According to tradition, for Saint George's Day we are meant to give a rose and a book, but Saint George had little to do with this ritual historically. It is known that he was a Roman soldier, made a martyr by the Romans themselves in the fourth century for not rejecting his Christian faith. The most popular legend in Catalonia concerning Saint George recounts that there was a terrible dragon at  Montblanc (Conca de Barberà). To appease the dragon, lots were drawn to choose a person who would be given in sacrifice to the monster. One day, fate chose the king's daughter, who would have died at the hands of the beast had a knight not appeared who fought with the dragon and killed it. 

This same legend, with slight variations, is repeated in the folktales of England, Portugal and Greece.

In principle, Saint George was a figure connected to knights and chivalry, a fact that would explain the custom of giving a rose on the saint's feast day. Some people claim this practice dates back to the Fira dels Enamorats (Lovers' Fair), held in Barcelona since the fifteen century. In any case, what certainly seems to be the case is that, at that time, roses were already being given to the ladies who attended the Saint George's Day mass given at the chapel of Saint George at the Palau de la Generalitat.

The celebration of the day of the book is somewhat more recent. According to some sources, this was first celebrated on the 7th of October 1926, commemorating the birth of Miguel de Cervantes. The original idea was by the writer Vicent Clavel Andrés, who made his proposal to the Official Chamber of Books in Barcelona.

Shortly afterwards, in 1930, the date was changed to the 23rd of April, the day Cervantes died, as well as being the date for two other universal writers, William Shakespeare and Garcilaso de la Vega. Other renowned writers either died or were born on this date, such as Josep Pla, Maurice Druon, K. Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

Later on, this festival of literature was declared World Book and Copyright Day by UNESCO. The decision was taken on the 15th of November 1995 at a general conference held in Paris.