English history? It’s made us what we are today.
England’s flag of names
Ahead of Sunday’s final, English Heritage has unveiled St George Cross banners that carry the names of the 30,000 most common surnames in England. The names — whose origins can be traced on-line — reflect 21st century England in all its diversity.
The banners, and an associated website, originated in conversations over one year ago. The charity, steward of Stonehenge, Dover Castle and other iconic sites and buildings, wanted a symbol to launch a year-long series of events about English history and English identity. But what symbol? And which history? Both can be hotly contested.
Englishness maybe a shared identity, but there are many different versions of it. For a rapidly shrinking minority it is still associated with being white. For some it is tied up with culture and landscape (and sport). For others it is a deeply rooted sense of place and community. For others it is tied up with ideas of national sovereignty and democracy. No one symbol could express all those meanings.
History is even more fraught. Between the parody polarisations of the culture wars that insist all was either great and glorious or cruel and shameful lie many genuine different ways of telling England’s story. There is no single story that everyone agrees.
Which leaves us with two inescapable truths. The first is that the England we live in today has been shaped by our history, and that includes our engagement in all its forms with the rest of the world. Our diversity stems from migration from former colonies, from the role of English as a global language, and from the attractions of a global nation and global capital city.
The people of England today don’t just drink tea. Figuratively and no doubt literally, they include descendants of owners of tea plantations and descendants of tea pickers. All are part of England’s story and most, no doubt, will be cheering on England on Sunday. There is little evidence that nostalgia for a lost empire lies behind Brexit or other political upheavals. But amnesia about empire and its implications is a bigger problem when we have too often forgotten the events that have brought us together today.
The origins of a surname do not tell us how an individual came to hold it. As some early critics of this project have pointed out, the same surname may belong to the descendants of slave owners and the descendants of slaves. A south Asian name such as Patel may have come with migration from the sub-continent direct or via indentured labourers who were taken to southern and east Africa in the 19th century before being forced to leave in the 1960s and 70s. Even the obviously Welsh name of Williams tells us nothing about how it became a family name in England today. And, of course, in most naming systems, family names pass down the male line only.*
The banner of names says simply that all who live here belong in England and that all may choose to call themselves English. It is intended to open up a different way of telling England’s story. It is not just the story of the people of this nation in the past, or events as they happened or been seen from here, but is also of the stories of those who now live here and who may see the same events very differently. It includes those who shared surnames may disguise very different histories. Those who tell the proud story of radical England have their place every bit as much of those who value more conservative tellings. These are not separate stories — they are all part of England’s story. Learning to tell, listen to and share those stories — which go way beyond sport — is key to building a truly inclusive England.
The second truth, of course, is that England’s story is not over but is still being made. This football team has already made history and may make more on Sunday, but it not the last game England will play. England’s tomorrow is being made by all the people who live here today. The banner of names is a statement about the future, not just the past.
The pandemic put paid to the banner planned for last year. But it’s probably even more important today. This is a moment when many people who’ve often felt uneasy about calling themselves English suddenly can’t deny a deep sense of shared identity, not just with a football team but with other members of the same nation. In the Centre’s most recent webinar, we joined with British Future to explore how we can build an inclusive England beyond the stadium. Our report is here and you can see a video of the event. We can’t rely on sport to do all the work of showing us what England can be like. There are millions of stories of England and its people that need to be shared and we all need to play our part.
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Prof John Denham
Centre for English Identity and Politics
University of Southampton
*This paragraph was added on 10.7.21. in response to some queries on social media.
