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St George's Day: 10 Reasons To Feel Patriotic About Being English

10 Reasons To Be Patriotic On St George's Day
Jessica Elgot
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The Queen, fish and chips, cups of tea and Stephen Fry. Great reasons to be proud of being British. But is that really all we've got.

Actually, there's a lot better reasons to be proud of being British. We're one of the most tolerant, most compassionate and progressive places on Earth.

So St George's Day seems the time to brag about that. A bit. Not too much though. That wouldn't be very British.

Too jingoistic? Try 10 Reasons We Don't Feel Patriotic On St George's Day

10 Reasons To Be Patriotic On St George's Day
We legalised gay marriage(01 of10)
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England is one of only 16 countries to have marriage equality (credit:Getty Images)
We are one of the most generous nations on Earth(02 of10)
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The UK spent £11.4bn on aid in 2013 – or about £180 per person. We are one of very few countries to meet our aid spending pledge, 0.7% of gross national income. (credit:Flickr:DFID - UK Department for International Development)
And we give the most individually too(03 of10)
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The UK is top of the developed world for giving money to charity, with 76% of Britons giving to good causes in a typical month (credit:Getty Images)
We can sock it to the French(04 of10)
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English cyclists won their race twice, and we're hosting the Grand Depart this year (credit:Getty Images)
London is officially the greatest city on Earth(05 of10)
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Not to go on about the French, but London beat Paris this year to be the most popular destination on Earth (credit:Getty Images)
Who you love is your own business in England(06 of10)
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We're one of the world's least homophobic nations, and fewer than a fifth of people think homosexuality is "morally unacceptable" (credit:Getty Images)
We don't care what our neighbours look like(07 of10)
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This is one of the world's most racially-tolerant nations, with less than 4% of people saying they would be concerned if their neighbours were a different race. Across the Channel, it's between 20-29%. (credit:Getty Images)
We have the best universities in Europe(08 of10)
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We have the second most institutions (after the United States) in the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2014. And London is the best city in the world for universities. (credit:AP)
We invented so much stuff it's really hard to believe(09 of10)
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We invented the internet, the lawnmower, the typewriter, the hip replacement, the Christmas card, the steam turbine, the chocolate bar, the fire extinguisher, fizzy water, the tin can, the sandwich, viagra, the hypodermic syringe, the toothbrush, the electric kettle, photography and the modern sewage system, football, rugby, cricket, ping pong... and that's just for starters (credit:Getty Images)
We're the least patriotic nation in Europe(10 of10)
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And we take a strange kind of pride in that (credit:PA)
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