Saint George is traditionally credited with defeating the dragon in Christian legend.
The dragon story appears in medieval versions of Saint George’s life, especially the popular narrative known as the Golden Legend. In it, a dragon terrorizes a community, and George rescues a princess and defeats the creature after the people agree to accept Christianity. The tale is symbolic and was not part of the earliest surviving accounts of George’s martyrdom.
George was probably a Christian soldier who was martyred at Lydda, in Roman Palestine, during the persecution associated with Emperor Diocletian. Historical details about his life are limited, but devotion to him spread widely through the eastern and western Christian worlds.
His feast day is April 23. George is the patron saint of England, Georgia, and several other places and groups. The red cross on a white field associated with England is commonly called Saint George’s Cross, though the legend and the flag are separate traditions.