Earliest known English Christian poet. According to the Northumbrian historian Bede, when Caedmon was a cowherd at the monastery of Whitby, he was commanded to sing by a stranger in a dream, and on waking produced a hymn on the Creation. The poem is preserved in some manuscripts. Caedmon became a monk and may have composed other religious poems.
The large star symbolizes the common programme of the Communist Party. The small stars represent the four economic classes: peasants, workers, petty bourgeoisie, and ‘patriotic capitalists’. Effective date: 1 October 1949.