The flag of Georgia known today as the five-cross flag was originally just a white flag with a single red St. George's cross.

It was used in the 5th century by the Georgian king Vakhtang Gorgasali as the symbol of the Georgian state and nation.

The five-cross flag was used by Queen Tamar of Georgia in the 13th century. The four small crosses according to the Georgian scholar Giorgi Gabeskiria are believed to have been added by George V  who drove out the Mongols in 1334.

The new design was used by crusaders in the Holy Land as a variant of the Jerusalem cross around the same time (four small crosses and a large central cross). The five crosses are said to symbolise the five wounds of Christ.

During the medieval period, the flag fell out of use. But in 1991 it was revived following independance from the Soviet Union. In 1999, the restoration was supported by the influential Catholic-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church. A bill was passed in 1999 for the flag to change, but Eduard Shevardnadze (the President) did not endorse it. In the late 1990's, the United National Movement led by Mikhail Saakashvili accepted it in resistance to Shevardnadze's rule.

On January 14, 2004 the Georgian parliament adopted the flag.

St George is Georgia's Patron Saint, as in England Where the St Georges Cross is still used on the national flag.