The coat of arms of the Republic of Georgia was adopted on 1 October 2004. It is partially based on the medieval arms of the Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

n royal house of Bagrationi.

It has two lion

Lion (heraldry)

The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises bravery, valour, strength, and royalty, since traditionally, it is regarded as the king of beasts.-Attitudes:...

s rampant as supporters

Supporters

In heraldry, supporters are figures usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. These figures may be real or imaginary animals, human figures, and in rare cases plants or inanimate objects...

 of the shield, which is surmounted with the royal crown of Georgia, all of them Or

Or (heraldry)

In heraldry, Or is the tincture of gold and, together with argent , belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". In engravings and line drawings, it may be represented using a field of evenly spaced dots...

 (gold). The shield itself is Gules

Gules

In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....

 (red), with an image of Saint George

Saint George

Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

, riding a horse trampling upon a crawling dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

, whose head is pierced by the saint's spear, all of them Argent

Argent

In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...

 (white).

The motto

Motto

A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...

 below the shield reads as : "Strength is in Unity" (Dzala Ertobashia, written in the Mkhedruli script of the Georgian alphabet

Georgian alphabet

The Georgian alphabet is the writing system used to write the Georgian language and other Kartvelian languages , and occasionally other languages of the Caucasus such as Ossetic and Abkhaz during the 1940s...

, ძალა ერთობაშია).

Former coats of arms

• 1918-1921 and 1991-2004:

This coat of arms was in use by the Democratic Republic of Georgia

Democratic Republic of Georgia

The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918–1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia.The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917...

 throughout its existence in 1918-1921. Though the use of Saint George as Georgia's patron saint

Patron saint

A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

 was by then a long tradition, there were some discussions about other possibilities, the major one being Amiran

Amiran-Darejaniani

Amiran-Darejaniani , translated into English as "The story of Amiran, son of Darejan", is a medieval Georgian romance, dating probably from the early or middle decades of the twelfth century. It is one of those literary works which heralded the emergence of native secular literature after several...

, as the symbol of Georgia's fight for freedom from the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

. However, a decision was then made in favor of saint George. Restored in 1991, this coat of arms was replaced by the current one in 2004.

• 1801-1917:

Before 1917, when Georgia was part of the Russian Empire, the Georgian coat of arms appeared on the Greater Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire, as part of the coat of arms of Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

. It showed then as the center inescutcheon, and read as follows:

Or, with an image of Saint George Martyr the Victorious in complete armour Azur with a cross on his breast, with a flying cloak Gules, riding a horse Sable

Sable

The sable is a species of marten which inhabits forest environments, primarily in Russia from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, in northern Mongolia and China and on Hokkaidō in Japan. Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia to Poland and Scandinavia...

 in full gallop, the latter covered with a horse cloth Gules, fringed Or, trampling upon a crawling dragon Vert

Vert

The colour green is commonly found in modern flags and coat of arms, and to a lesser extent also in the classical heraldry of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period....

, winged Sable, eyed and tongued Gules, whose head is pierced by the saint's spear Gules.

• Before 1801:

Coats of arms were mostly those of the Bagrationi, who claimed to have King David among their ancestors, and included such elements as King David's lyra

Lyra

Lyra is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Its principal star, Vega — a corner of the Summer Triangle — is one of the brightest...

 and sling

Sling (weapon)

A sling is a projectile weapon typically used to throw a blunt projectile such as a stone or lead "sling-bullet". It is also known as the shepherd's sling....

, or the Holy Tunic.

External links

• President of Georgia website
• The Georgian Coat of Arms in: Georgian History by Giorgi Gabeskiria.