The Academy is based in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.

[1] The Sociedade Protectora da Academia Gallega was founded in La Habana, Cuba in 1905.

The following year, thanks to the efforts of writers Manuel Curros Enríquez and Xosé Fontenla Leal, on 30 September 1906, it was reestablished as the Real Academia Galega, with Manuel Murguía as its first president.

In 1972 the Academy standardized the design of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Galicia.

Some years later, the Academy persuaded the Galician government to commemorate the old coat of arms by superimposing it on the existing civil flag; the resulting flag is used today.