flag of Georgia

Historically, there had been a number of independent kingdoms in the Caucasus Mountains that eventually united to form Georgia, but all of them made use of the colours white and cherry (or carnelian) red (as well as black) for their flags. Most of these banners were carried by military forces or used by royalty, since modern national flags did not exist. Queen Tamara, or Tamar (1184–1213), the most famous ruler in Georgian history, according to tradition used a white flag with a dark red cross and a star. All these flags were suppressed in 1801 when Georgia was annexed by Russia.

Following World War I, an independent Georgian Democratic Republic was proclaimed on May 26, 1918. The national flag, designed by Jakob Nikoladze, had been first hoisted on March 25, 1917, and it continued to be displayed until Soviet forces crushed Georgian independence in 1921. The flag was cherry red with a canton of black and white stripes. Cherry red was (and still is) considered the national colour; black stood for the tragedies of the past, white for hopes for the future. Under the Soviet regime, various flags were used before the adoption of a distinctive Georgian flag on April 11, 1951. Its background was red, and its canton was blue with red rays surrounding a red hammer, sickle, and star; from the canton a blue horizontal stripe extended to the end of the flag. The 1918–21 flag was readopted on November 14, 1990, and independence was again proclaimed on April 9, 1991.

A white flag depicting five red crosses (the Cross of St. George and four smaller ones) was probably first used in the 14th century. In 1999 the Georgia legislature voted to make it the national flag, but President Eduard Shevardnadze did not sign the bill. The flag then became a popular symbol for those opposing Shevardnadze’s government, and it was officially adopted on January 14, 2004, after a new national government had been installed.