2004
Georgia adopts the “Five-Cross” flag
Georgia was one of the first nations to adopt Christianity and has fought hard over the centuries to maintain the faith despite the efforts of hostile neighbours. In the fifth century their armies were led by a white flag with a red St George’s cross (identical to England’s national banner). In the Middle Ages, supposedly in the reign of Giorgi V “the Magnificent” (1286-1346) who drove out Mongol overlords, four Jerusalem crosses were added. This flag was forgotten when Georgia became a Russian province and then a Soviet republic. After the collapse of the USSR, a newly-independent Georgia chose a drab tricolour flag briefly used after World War I but finally decided on the five crosses as a symbol of the nation’s long Christian tradition.