STONEHENGE is flying a special flag to cheer on England ahead of Sunday's Euro 2020 final which features the surnames of almost every person in the country.
Kane, Sterling, Pickford and Phillips are just four of more than 32,000 surnames which feature on the St George's flag at English Heritage’s historic sites nationwide, including Stonehenge, Osborne on the Isle of Wight and Carlisle Castle, from today (Friday, July 9).
The charity designed the flags to feature the surnames of almost everyone living in England today – either in the red or white of the St George Cross.
As the England football players prepare to don shirts emblazoned with their surnames and to make history by appearing in the country’s first Euro finals, English Heritage asks; what’s in a name?
It says for thousands of years people have moved over land and sea to make England their home, from the Romans to the Anglo-Saxons, the Huguenots to the Windrush generation, and a surname can map those journeys.
A surname can reveal a long forgotten family trade, whether Smith, Thatcher, Tailor, Baker or Brewer, or football fans may take hope from Harry Kane whose surname means ‘warrior’ or watch the quick footwork of Kieran Trippier whose surname means ‘to dance’.
Matt Thompson, English Heritage’s Head Collections Curator, said: “History may be made at Wembley on Sunday and English Heritage is cheering on the team by flying the England flag at our castles and palaces across the country. The surnames on our England flag connect the country’s past, present and future and we hope that our flag will remind people that everyone living here today – including the Kanes and Sterlings – will shape the England of the future. Hopefully, that immediate future will be one in which England have won the Euros.”
The surnames on English Heritage’s England flag – from Aamir to Zyla, arranged alphabetically – capture more than 32,000 family names in England, all those with more 100 occurrences in the country.
Professor John Denham, the director of the Centre for English Identity and Politics at the University of Southampton and who originally suggested the idea to English Heritage, said: “At a time when the telling of history can spark controversy, this flag symbolises an essential truth: England and its people have been shaped by our shared histories and England’s future story on and off the pitch will be told by all the people who are making their lives here today.”
English Heritage has also created a digital flag on its website where people will be able to explore the history and meaning of their surname, and for those whose surname is particularly rare, add to the record by submitting it for inclusion.
To view the digital flag visit https://namesofengland.english-heritage.org.uk
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