Georgia celebrates National Flag Day, PM Gakharia hopes that flag will fly among other EU flags soon.

On the 14th of January, Georgia celebrates the National Flag Day. To mark the celebrations, Prime Minister Gakharia addressed the country with a speech. PM Gakharia expressed his hope for the Georgian flag to be raised among the flags of the EU member states in the nearest future.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishivili has also congratulated everyone who has been living under the national flag for the last 30 years. She also stated that those Georgians who do not remember the flag of another country flying over Georgia cannot understand the happiness of having the symbol of Georgian independence and freedom being raised instead.

The State Council of Heraldry has called upon Georgians to use this opportunity to commemorate the warriors, heroes, and prominent national figures. The current flag of Georgia was adopted by the former President Mikhail Saakashvili on January 14, 2004.

The national flag of Georgia consists of a white rectangle with a large red cross in the middle and four smaller crosses on each side of the larger cross. White rectangles and four small crosses have often been used to symbolize Christ the Savior and his four evangelists. The large cross in the center of the Georgian flag is the cross of St. George, and the four smaller crosses on the sides are called the Bolnisi crosses. The white color of the flag symbolizes innocence, purity of thoughts, chastity, and wisdom, while the red- masculinity, courage, justice, and love. The flag that was used before the existing one was a three-colored red, black and white flag that was adopted for the First Democratic Republic of Georgia of 1918-1921.

In order to mark the National Flag Day, the flag of Georgia was raised at all military bases of Georgian military bases, including the Vaziani Military Base and the country’s Ministry of Defence.