BUG #1716: FATAL: XX000: failed to initialize lc_messages to ""

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference:      1716
Logged by:          steve owen
Email address:      steve@keymarksystems.com
PostgreSQL version: 7.4.8
Operating system:   RHEL4
Description:        FATAL:  XX000: failed to initialize lc_messages to ""
Details:

I found this referenced under bug #1344: locale problem

The problem appears to be in going from Linux 2.6.9-5.0.5 to 2.6.9-11 the
default LANG environment variable changed
from LANG=en_US.UTF-8 to LANG=english_us.8859.  Error could be identified by
typing locale at the opsys prompt.
I fixed by adding to posgres .bash_profile:
  LANG=en_US.UTF-8; export LANG

hopes this helps someone else