Saint George protecting the Maltese. Saint George is the protector of the island of Gozo and the patron of Gozo's largest city, Victoria. The St. George's Basilica in Victoria is dedicated to him. Devotions to Saint George in Portugal date back to the 12th century. Nuno Álvares Pereira attributed the victory of the Portuguese in the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385 to Saint George. During the reign of John I of Portugal (1357–1433), Saint George became the patron saint of Portugal and the King ordered that the saint's image on the horse be carried in the "Corpus Christi" procession. The flag of
Patron saint Patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, or particular branches of Islam, is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family or person. Saints often become the patrons of places where they were born or had been active. However, there were cases in Medieval Europe where a city which grew to prominence and obtained for its cathedral the remains or some relics of a famous saint who had lived and was buried elsewhere, thus making him or her the