Thanks to his strength and courage, and his faith, even in the face of death, Saint Georges became an ideal of martial valor and self-sacrifice.
He became the ideal example for all soldiers, as they wore Saint George’s pendant because they believe that the wearers of the pendant can evoke St. George’s name in battles – both physical and otherwise – for protection.
Saint Georges is an early Christian martyr, tradition holds that he was a Roman soldier, he was executed after he was tortured and decapitated under Diocletian’s persecution of Christians in 303, for refusing to make a sacrifice in honor of the pagan gods.
Legends about him as a warrior saint became popular and increasingly extravagant.
Saint Georges’s slaying of the dragon is a theme much represented in art, the saint frequently being depicted as a youth wearing a knight’s armor with a scarlet cross.