St. George
Patron of soldiers, England, Portugal, scouts, Ethiopia, Georgia
Saint George (c. 275–303) was a Cappadocian Roman tribune of high rank who, on the publication of Diocletian's edicts against Christians, openly protested at court, gave his fortune to the poor, and was tortured for several days before being beheaded on 23 April 303 at Nicomedia (or, in another tradition, at Lydda in Palestine). The legend of his combat with the dragon, popularized by the thirteenth-century Golden Legend, made him the chivalric saint of medieval Europe — patron of England, Catalonia, Georgia, Ethiopia, scouts, soldiers and the Order of the Garter. The dragon stands for paganism and the chained princess for the Church.