As a highly venerated saint in both the Western and Eastern Christian churches, Saint George is connected with a large number of patronages throughout the world, and his iconography can be found on the flags and coats of arms of a number of cities, regions, and countries. Saint George is a patron saint of Georgia , and it is claimed that he is the most venerated saint in that nation. An 18th-century Georgian geographer and historian Vakhushti Bagrationi wrote that there are Orthodox churches in Georgia named after Saint George, according to the number of days in one year.
George at the Alaverdi Monastery is one of the largest. Devotions to the saint in Georgia date back to the 4th century. While not technically named after the saint Sakartvelo is the Georgian name for the country , its English name is an early and well-attested back-derivation of Saint George.
The terms Georgia and Georgians appeared in Western Europe in numerous early medieval annals, gradually replacing the ancient exonyms of Iberia and Iberians.
The Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates St. George's day twice a year, on 6 May O. The feast day in November was instituted by St Nino of Cappadocia , who was credited with bringing Christianity to the land of Georgia in the 4th century. She was from Cappadocia, like Saint George, and was said to be his relative. This feast day is unique to Georgia, and it is the day of St George's martyrdom. There are also many folk traditions in Georgia that vary from Georgian Orthodox Church rules, because they portray the Saint differently from the Church, and show the veneration of Saint George by the common people of Georgia.
Different regions of Georgia have different traditions, and in most folk tales Saint George is venerated very highly. This image is also seen on the current Coat of Arms of Georgia. The region of Pshavi has icons known as the Cuppola St. George and Lashari St. Another notable icon is known as the Lomisi Saint George , which can be found in the Mtiuleti and Khevi provinces of Georgia.
