The offeecial banner o Georgie (Georgian: საქართველოს სახელმწიფო დროშა, saqartvelos saxelmtsipho drosha) is the "five-cross banner", restored tae offeecial uise on 14 Januar 2004, efter a break o some 500 years. It wis previously the banner o the medieval Georgian kinrick an haed been uised as the offeecial seembol o the Unitit Naitional Movement poleetical pairty.

Design 
The naitional banner o Georgie (Saqartvelos Sakhelmts'ipo Drosha), as describit in the Presidential decree No. 31 o 25 Januar 2004:

History o the banner 
Oreeginally, the white banner wi the single reid St. George's cross wis uised bi the Georgian Keeng Vakhtang Gorgasali in the 5t century as the naitional seembol o the Georgian state an naition. Durin the golden age o the Georgian kinrick the "five-cross banner" wis uised syne 13t century bi Queen Tamar o Georgie. The central element o the banner is the cross o St. George, the patron saunt o Georgie.  This cross is the naitional banner o England (whose patron saint is Saunt George an aw) an a component o the Union Banner an aw. Accordin tae the Georgian scholar Giorgi Gabeskiria, the fower extra crosses wur probably addit durin the reign o George V o Georgie (kent as "the Brilliant" or "the Splendid" an aw), who drove oot the Mongols. Aroond that time, the new design wis adoptit as a variant o the Jerusalem cross, a seembol uised bi crusaders in the Holy Land, which likwise uised a lairge central cross wi fower smawer "crosslets" in the fower quadrants. The crosses are said tae hae representit the five Holy Wounds o Christ.

The banner fell oot o uise later in the medieval period, but wis revived bi Georgian patriotic movement follaein the kintra's unthrildom frae the Soviet Union in 1991. A majority o Georgians, includin the influential Catholicos-Patriarch o the Georgian Orthodox an Apostolic Church, supportit the restoration o the banner an in 1999 the Georgian parliament passed a bill tae chynge the banner.  Housomeivvver, it wis no endorsed bi the Preses, Eduard Shevardnadze. It wis adoptit in the early 2000s bi the main opposition pairty, the Unitit Naitional Movement led bi Mikhail Saakashvili, as a seembol o popular resistance tae Shevardnadze's rule.

The banner wis adoptit bi the Georgian parliament on 14 Januar 2004. It wis formally endorsed bi a presidential decree signed bi Saakashvili on Januar 25, follaein his election as Preses o Georgie. Its adoption wis no athoot controversy, as some complained that the adoption o a pairty's poleetical banner as a naitional emblem wis an undemocratic muive.

Earlier banners o Georgie

Independent Georgie (1918–1921, 1990–2004)
Durin Georgie's brief existence as an independent state (the Democratic Republic o Georgie) frae 1918–1921, a tricolour banner wis adoptit (belaw left). The design resultit frae a naitional banner-designin contest won bi Jakob Nikoladze, a painter. It wis abolished bi the Soviet Union follaein the 1921 takeower o Georgie but wis revived on 14 November 1990, bi the Supreme Cooncil o the Republic o Georgie. It lost popularity thereefter as it became associatit wi the chaotic an violent period aroond Georgie's unthrildom frae the Soviet Union.

The banner's seembolism, accordin tae the Oxford Faimily Encyclopedia, is as follaes:

Soviet Georgie (1921–1990) 
Durin the Soviet period, Georgie adoptit a nummer o versions o the red Soviet banner incorporatin aither the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic's name, or a reid hammer an sickle wi a starn in a blue sun in the canton an blue bar in the upper pairt o banner (belaw richt). The banner o Georgian SSR wis abolished bi the Georgian govrenment in November 1990 shortly afore it declared unthrildom frae the Soviet Union.

References

Freemit airtins 
 Banner o Georgie , Preses o Georgie wabsteid.
 The Law o Georgie on the Naitional Banner (2004) , Parliament o Georgie wabsteid.  
 The banner o Georgie, Naitional Parliamentary Library o Georgie – Georgian History
 "Georgia", Flags of the World
 "What's With Georgia's Flags?", Slate, November 25, 2003

 
Georgia (kintra)
Naitional seembols o Georgie (kintra)