In this paper, we present a circularly polarized (CP) composite cavity-backed crossed dipole antenna for global positioning system (GPS) applications. We produce the CP radiation by crossing two dipoles through a $90^{circ}$ phase delay line of a vacant-quarter printed ring, which also has a broadband impedance matching characteristic. Two techniques, insertion of meander lines in the dipole arm and arrowhead-shaped trace at its end, are employed to reduce the sizes of the primary radiation element. The compact radiator is backed by a cavity reflector to achieve a wide CP radiation beamwidth. The proposed antenna exhibits a measured bandwidth of 1.450~1.656 GHz for a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) < 2 and 1.555~1.605 GHz for AR < 3-dB. At 1.575 GHz, the antenna has a gain of 7 dBic, a frontto-back ratio of 27 dB, AR of 1.18 dB, and 3-dB AR beamwidths of $130^{circ}$ and $132^{circ}$ in the x-z and y-z planes, respectively.