St George's Cross

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For the English national flag, see Flag of England.

St George's cross

The St George's Cross (or Cross of St George) is a red cross on a white background. It is used as the national flag of England and Georgia as well as the municipal flag for numerous cities, including Montreal, Barcelona, Almería, Milan, Genoa, and Freiburg im Breisgau. Guernsey was permitted to use it as its state flag between 1936 and 1985. It is also used in a special colour variation by Real Politics Union (Polish: Unia Polityki Realnej), a Polish liberal conservative political party.

1 St George Cross in England
2 St George Cross in Georgia
3 St George Cross in New South Wales
4 St George Cross on Real Politics Union flag
5 Gallery
6 See also
7 External links
8 Notes

Main article: Flag of England

It is believed to have been adopted for the uniform of English soldiers during the Crusades of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, particularly by the Knights Templar. From about 1277 it officially became the national flag of England.

After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, a combined British flag was created in 1606, initially for maritime display; however, the flag of England (as opposed to the United Kingdom) remains St George's Cross, and continues to be used when showing allegiance to England alone. Nowadays this is primarily done at events such as international football and rugby union competitions.

Saint George is the patron saint of England and various other countries and regions. The St George Cross is also the symbol of Milan, Genoa, Bologna, and Freiburg; and used, for example, in the flag of the city of Barcelona in Spain, and it appears on the flag of Georgia. The Lega Nord, a popular Italian political party campaigning for the independence of Northern Italy, also uses the St George Cross as an official symbol.

The flag of St George is also the rank flag of an Admiral in the Royal Navy, and civilian craft are forbidden to fly it. However, ships which took part in the rescue operation at Dunkirk during World War II are allowed to fly it as a jack.

The flag of St George should not be confused with the flag of the Red Cross. The flag of St George has a red cross which reaches from edge to edge of the flag. The flag of the red cross, like the Swiss flag, has a cross which does not reach the edges.

It has been flown from English Churches (The Church of England,The Anglican Church) for many years, It has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity partly by football-inspired nationalism, and also by the devolution movements in Scotland and Wales.

Main articles: Coat of arms of Georgia (country) and Flag of Georgia (country)

The flag of Georgia with St George cross in middle

The flag with St George (who is the patron saint of Georgia) cross was used in 5th century by the Georgian King Vakhtang Gorgasali as the symbol of his state and nation. ^[1] In 13th century Queen Tamar of Georgia used St George flag during her campaign against Seljuk Turks. The five Jerusalem crosses were later added By King George V of Georgia who drove out the Mongols from Georgia in 1334. The flag fell out during the Russian annexation of Georgia and abolition of the Georgian monarchy. However the flag was revived by the Georgian patriotic movement in the 1990s. A majority of Georgians, including the influential Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church, supported the restoration of medieval flag of Georgia. The flag was finally adopted by the Georgian parliament on January 14, 2004. It was formally endorsed by a presidential decree signed by Saakashvili on January 25, following his election as President of Georgia.

The state badge of the Australian state of New South Wales features a St George cross with a golden lion passant guardant in the centre of the cross and a golden eight pointed star on each of the cross limbs.

The flag of Real Politics Union with blue St George's Cross.

St George's Cross is used here in a special colour variation as a traditional symbol of a struggle for principles. The colours of the flag represent: a struggle for allegiance (blue), virtue (white) and freedom (black).