Flag of the Week: Georgia

The flag of Georgia is a simple but very beautiful piece of art. It's approximately based on the Jerusalem Cross, but the variation in the design improves its aesthetic qualities. It's an old flag, dating back to the 11th Century Kingdom of Georgia, but it's only recently been used as Georgia's official flag.

In the early 20th Century Georgia used a red-black-white flag. This is a curious design that looks somehow awkward to me, like a black and white patch on a red jacket. I'm not aware if there was any significance to the choice or relative sizes of the three colours. When Russia attacked and occupied Georgia in 1921 this flag was outlawed. Over the next 70 years it remained a symbol of defiance against the Russian puppet government installed in the "Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic".

In 1991 Georgia became an independent country again, and the red-black-white flag was once more used. However, there were movements in the country to return to the old red-white flag as a symbol of continuity with the Kingdom of Georgia in the Middle Ages. The flag was finally changed in 2004.