Cross of St George

The St George's cross, a red cross on a white background, is the flag of England and has been from about 1277. After England joined with Scotland by the 1707 Act of Union a Union Flag was created which was used for all national matters, but the flag of England (as opposed to the United Kingdom) remains St George's Cross, and continues to be used when showing allegiance to England alone - primarily, in this day and age, at events such as international football matches.

Saint George is the patron saint of England, and other countries and regions as explained in the article on him. They also use the St George Cross, for example, in the flag of the city of Barcelona in Spain.

See Flag of the United Kingdom for the full explanation of the UK Union Flag and Flag of England for a bigger picture of the St George Cross, although as mentioned above, the St George cross is not just the flag of England.

St George's flag is not to be confused with the flag of the red cross. The flag of St George has a red cross which reaches from edge to edge of the flag. The flag of the red cross, like the Swiss flag, has a cross which does not reach the edges.

St George's Cross should not be confused with St George cross, a military distinction in Russia.