Nine blue and white stripes and a cross: the flag born in the Greek War of Independence that lived for a century and a half alongside another version.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Civil, state and military, on land and at seaFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 2:3 ratio with stripes and a canton with a cross.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
In 1821 the Greeks revolted against the Ottoman Empire
In January 1822, the first National Assembly
Changes of regime went on adding and removing crowns until in 1978 only one was left
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Greece has nine horizontal stripes, blue and white, and a blue square with a white cross in the corner by the mast. The Greeks call it Galanólefki, “the blue and white”. Today it is the only national flag, but for more than a century and a half it shared that role with another: the cross alone.
In 1821 the Greeks revolted against the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled the country for almost four centuries. At the start of the war, each rebel leader fought with his own standard.
In January 1822, the first National Assembly, gathered at Epidaurus, chose blue and white as the colours of the country. In March of that year, a decree fixed two designs: a white cross on a blue ground for land use, and the striped version with the cross in the corner for ships.
For a long time Greece had two flags at once. Changes of regime went on adding and removing crowns until in 1978 only one was left.
1822
The white cross on blue is the land flag. The striped one is reserved for the sea.
1863-1924 y 1935-1973
With the kings, the state flag carries a crown in the centre of the cross. It disappears during the republic and returns with the monarchy.
1970-1975
The military dictatorship turns the striped flag into the only national flag, with a very dark blue and a more elongated shape.
1975-1978
After the fall of the dictatorship, the cross alone became the national flag again.
1978
A law chooses for good the striped flag as the only flag of the country.
No law explains the design, but there are very widespread interpretations:
Nine stripes
the most popular explanation says they are the nine syllables of the independence motto, Eleftería i thánatos, “liberty or death”. Other readings speak of nine regions or of the waves of the sea.
White cross
Orthodox Christianity, the religion of most Greeks.
Blue and white
according to tradition, the sea and the sky of Greece.
The 1978 law speaks of light blue, but in practice very different tones are used, from sky blue to navy blue.
Although the official flag is the striped one, units of the land army parade with the old cross flag.
At the closing of the Olympic Games, the first flag raised is the Greek one and its anthem is played, in honour of the country where the Games were born.
On 30 May 1941, with Greece occupied by Germany, two young men, Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas, climbed the Acropolis of Athens and tore down the Nazi flag flying there.
Where it is and what borders it.
Test what you have read about the flag of Greece.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Autor desconocido, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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