The Gazette is proud to fly the flag of St George as it launches a new campaign to celebrate a special day in the calendar - and hopefully get it designated as a national holiday.

The last few weeks have seen a proliferation of flags sporting the cross of St George in the borough as the country was gripped by England's quest for Euro 2004 glory.

This welcome burst of patriotism came just weeks after the people of Basingstoke showed their patriotic spirit by celebrating St George's Day in style in the borough at several local events.

It was the first time for some years that the flag of St George had been seen flying in force on April 23 - and it was a great sight to see.

The Welsh are passionate about St David's Day; the Irish celebrate St Patrick's Day; the Scots mark St Andrew's Day in style - and so they should. By the same standard, the English should surely make more of a show of demonstrating their patriotism on St George's Day - a day when English patriotic pride can come to the fore.

A few weeks ago, the TUC launched a search for a new bank holiday to bring Britain closer to other European countries. The Gazette today supports this search - and this newspaper says that the perfect day for a new national holiday is April 23 (or the Monday after, when it falls on a weekend, as in 2005).

The Gazette has launched a petition to give local people the chance to register their support for our St George's Day campaign, which can be downloaded from this website.

If the support is there, this newspaper will take the campaign to the Houses of Parliament and will press for people to be given April 23 off to celebrate this pat- riotic occasion.

Whatever the outcome of this aspect of the campaign, The Gazette wants to hear from local people about how the town and borough can build on the wave of patriotism shown on April 23 this year so that next year sees an even bigger civic celebration of St George's Day.

All sections of the community could become involved in events in the run-up to St George's Day. It would be a great opportunity for a show of civic and English national pride in Basingstoke - and surely that's worth celebrating.

So while readers may be putting away the England flags for now, The Gazette urges you to keep them handy because come next St George's Day, we hope the people of our town and borough will once again be flying the flag with pride.

Do you have any views on this campaign? Send them to Gazette St George's Day campaign, The Editor, Gazette Newspapers, Gaz-ette House, Pelton Road, Basingstoke, RG21 6YD or e-mail editor@basingstokegazette.co.uk