Sacred Relic of Saint George Sacred Relic of Saint George The sacred relic of Saint George was one of the most famous of relics, after the True Cross and Holy Lance, and was the arm of the Saint George (d. 303), ordered killed by the Roman Emperor Diocletian for his failure to renounce his faith in Christ. George, a secondary patron saint of the First Crusade, played a significant role and provided other relics, as the occupation of his tomb at Lydda (now Lod, Israel) marked the first Latin bishop of Israel as well as a service to ask for his intervention. The arm was
Flag of England for Tblisi). John Cabot, commissioned by Henry VII to sail "under our banners, flags and ensigns," reportedly took St George's banner to Newfoundland in 1497. St George's Day was considered a "double major feast" from 1415, but George was still eclipsed by his "rivals" Saints Edward and Edmund. He finally rose to the position of the primary patron saint of England during the English Reformation, with the revised prayer book of 1552, when all religious flags, including all saints' banners except for his were abolished. The first recorded use of St George's Cross as a maritime flag, in conjunction with