It is becoming a habit that every three or four months somebody stirs up a controversy over whether the George Cross should be retained or not on the Maltese flag. Such a controversy is as useless as it is baseless. Indeed, what is perhaps important about it is not the controversy itself but rather the lack of knowledge of Maltese history manifested by those who stir up such a controversy.

I have written many times about how pitiful it is that many Maltese have a very poor knowledge of Maltese history. University professors have also written about the need of giving the subject of history more importance in academic curricula in our educational institutions. This latest controversy highlights this fact.

Let me start by stating that it is obvious to anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of Maltese history that the George Cross should be retained on our flag. Why? Because nobody in his right mind throws away a battle honour. Nobody shuns a symbol of the best qualities in a nation. Nobody puts aside a medal that reminds us of the glorious past of the Maltese people.

Nobody shuns a symbol of the best qualities in a nation

How many times does one have to explain that World War II of 1939-45 was not just a war between different countries but, above all, a war of different ideologies?

The efforts and sacrifices of the Maltese nation in World War II ensured that democracy would reign supreme in the world of the future. It was a fight between the reprehensible ideologies of fascism and nazism as opposed to the democratic ideal.

Had Malta fallen to the Axis powers in the early part of World War II, it would have been almost certain that the North African campaign would also have resulted in a German and Italian victory. Such a victory at that stage of the war might well have changed its whole outcome. One shudders to think of such a nightmare scenario.

Can you imagine Benito Mussolini entering Valletta in triumph? Can you imagine the swastika flying on Maltese rooftops? Can you imagine concentration camps being set up in the Maltese countryside?

Some critics of the George Cross on our flag state that the Maltese who died during World War II did so to further the colonial interests of the occupying power at that time, that is, Great Britain.

They also argue that Malta got involved in the war only because it was a British Crown Colony and that, despite all our sacrifices during the war, the British nevertheless continued to treat us badly and arrogantly after the war was over.

I myself am a great critic of the British Colonial administration and, yes, it is true that the British colonial masters sometimes treated the Maltese rather shabbily. However, all this is beside the point.

Had we been independent and neutral when World War II started in 1939, it is obvious that Malta, being so strategically located as to its geographical position, would have been invaded by the Germans and Italians or occupied by the British at one point or another.

It was too important to be left to the enemy.

Thus, we would have got involved in the war whether we liked it or not.

The fact that the lot of the ordinary Maltese did not improve greatly after the end of the war and that the British continued to lord it over us is a stain on Great Britain’s history but it does not nullify or diminish the crucial part played by the Maltese in safeguarding democracy for the generations born after the end of World War II.

To say, as some do, that the Maltese victims of World War II “died for nothing” is a great insult to our ancestors who gave their lives for a great and worthy cause.

This is why we have to retain the George Cross on the Maltese flag. It does not make sense to remove it or to replace it with some other symbol.

The George Cross symbolises the best qualities of the Maltese nation: solidarity with those who fight against oppression; courage and fortitude in times of trial and great difficulty; the iron will to overcome great obstacles and obtain the final victory; the readiness to sacrifice one’s own life for a noble ideal.

Throwing away a part of our glorious history is throwing away a part of the Maltese identity. Removing the George Cross from our flag would mean trying to make people forget about Malta’s glorious efforts during World War II.

Which nation seeks to erase a page of its glorious past?

No, my friends, let us put an end to this controversy that has absolutely no basis in fact and which is completely useless in this day and age.

The George Cross is a symbol of Maltese honour. Let us treasure it now and in the future.

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