Saint George's Cross

In heraldry, Saint George's Cross (or the Cross of Saint George) is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader.

For the English national flag, see Flag of England. For the Glasgow subway station, see St George's Cross subway station.

Associated with the crusades, the red-on-white cross has its origins in the 10th century. It has been used as the ensign of the Republic of Genoa from perhaps as early as the 10th century.

The symbol was adopted by the Swabian League in the pre-Reformation Holy Roman Empire. George became associated as patron saint of England in the fourteenth century, replacing St Edmund the Martyr. Since then this flag is commonly identified as the national flag of England. Saint George is the patron saint of Catalonia and of the country of Georgia. It figures in the coat of arms of Barcelona. The national flag of Georgia supplements this cross with Jerusalem crosses.

Across the rest of Northern Italy as the symbol of Bologna, Genoa, Padua, Reggio Emilia, Mantua, Vercelli and Alessandria, the form has only received a cult of Saint George bolstering and simplification to the cross of Saint Ambrose, the origin of the cross in their civic designs, as the latter was adopted by the Commune of Milan in 1045, Ambrose having been a late 4th-century bishop of that city.^[1]

Proposed flag of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia

Flag of Adjara

Flag of the City of London

The combines the cross of Saint George, the patron saint of Catalonia, with the traditional red and yellow bars of the Senyera, the ancient symbol of the Crown of Aragon (here, the bars are vertical, though the modern flag of Catalonia has horizontal stripes).^[16]

flag of Barcelona

The flag of , Spain, consist of a St George's Cross.

Almería

The crest of in Toronto, Canada, contains a St George's Cross.

Royal St. George's College

The Indian naval flag used to feature a St. George Cross until it was removed in 2022

Both the and the flag of Corsica are derived from the Four Moors flag, also known as the "Cross of Alcoraz". This consists of a red cross of Saint George on a white background with a maure (moor's head) in each quarter. This is also found in the flag of Aragon, (Spain), and is based on a war flag of the Reconquista following the Battle of Alcoraz in 1096.^[17]

flag of Sardinia

The flag and arms of , Germany, consist of a St George's Cross, as St George is one of the city's patron saints.

Freiburg im Breisgau

In , the term "Saint George's cross" sometimes refers to the Cross pattée used by Swedish Freemasons.^[18] For example, the cross of the Swedish Order of Freemasons was defined by the King of Sweden in 1928 to be a "red St George's cross with triangular arms".^[19]

Sweden

In , the Cross pattée is called Yrjön risti, "George's cross", while the red cross on a white background is called Pyhän Yrjön risti, "Saint George's cross".^[20]

Finland

Some British Commonwealth countries used the St. George's Cross on their naval ensigns, including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Africa.

The naval jack of Italy contains a St. George's Cross on the second quarter.

Naval flags of , contain a St. George's Cross coloured in the same pattern as the Latvian national flag.

Latvia

Depicted on the trumpet banner of the Angel from the Judgement card in the Tarot Deck.

The naval ensign of Ukraine contains a St. George's Cross.

at FOTW

Flag of England