BRAZIL
WORLD FLAGS
SITE ON THE ORIGIN, DESIGN AND SYMBOLOGY OF THE FLAGS OF THE WORLD
#F / GREECE / Europe
GREECE
.GR
Official name:
hellenic republic
*Greek / Ελληνική Δημοκρατία - Elliniki Dimokratía
Capital: Athens
Idiom: Greek
Form of Government: Parlamentary republic
Currency: Euro
Demonym: Greek/-a * Hellenic/-na
Administrative divition: 13 Metropolitan Regions and 5 Overseas Regions
FLAG
The national flag of Greece, popularly known as "blue and white" (Greek: Γαλανόλευκη, Galanólefki) or "sky blue and white" (Κυανόλευκη, Kyanólefki), is officially recognized by Greece as one of its national symbols and has nine horizontal stripes equal blue alternating with white. There is a blue canton in the upper corner of the hoist side with a white cross; the cross symbolizes Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the predominant religion in Greece. The official flag ratio is 2:3. The shade of blue used in the flag has varied throughout its history, from light blue to dark blue, the latter being increasingly used since the late 1960s. It was officially adopted by the First National Assembly in Epidaurus on January 13, 1822.
National flag
Ratio: 2 x 3
According to popular tradition, the nine stripes represent the nine syllables of the phrase Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος ("Freedom or Death"), the five blue stripes for the syllables Ελευθερία and the four white stripes ή Θάνατος. The nine stripes are also said to represent the letters of the word "freedom" (Greek: ελευθερία). There is also a different theory, that the nine stripes symbolize the nine Muses, the goddesses of art and civilization (nine has traditionally been one of the reference numbers for the Greeks).
White and blue have been interpreted to symbolize the colors of the sky and the sea.
Various Greek researchers have attempted to establish a continuity in the use and meaning of the colors blue and white throughout Greek history.
Cited uses include the pattern of blue and white formations included in Achilles' shield, blue's apparent connection to the goddess Athena, some of Alexander the Great's army banners, possible blue and white flags used during the Byzantine Era, alleged coats of arms of imperial dynasties and noble families, uniforms, vestments of emperors, thrones of patriarchs, etc., 15th-century versions of Byzantine imperial emblems and, of course, use cases during the Ottoman rule and the Greek revolution.
On the other hand, the Great Greek Encyclopedia notes in its 1934 entry on the Greek flag that "many things have been said about the causes leading to this specification for the Greek flag, but without historical merit."
OTHER FLAGS
naval flag
Ratio: 1 x 1
Presidential Banner
Ratio: 1 x 1
CONSTRUCTION
To : 27 | B : 2 | C :4 | D : 8 | E : 17
COLORS
56 %
Blue
HEX CODE
# 0d5eaf
SYMBOLIZES:
THE SEA
44 %
White
HEX CODE
#ffffff
SYMBOLIZES:
HEAVEN
HISTORY
Flag of
Greece
1770 - 1820
Flag of
Greece
1822 - 1833
Flag of
Greece
1833 - 1862
Flag of
Greece
1862 - 1924
Flag of
Greece
1924 - 1935
Flag of
Greece
1935 - 1941
Flag of
Greece
1822 - 1833
Flag of
Greece
1833 - 1862
Flag of
Greece
1862 - 1924
Flag of
Greece
1924 - 1935
Flag of
Greece
1935 - 1941
Flag of
Greece
1970 - 1975
SHIELD
The coat of arms of Greece is made up of a single field of azure with a silver Greek cross with which it was wanted to represent the Greek Orthodox Church in 1828. It is the same composition that existed in the flag in force until 1978 and that currently appears in a box located in the upper corner of the flag of Greece next to the flagpole. The coat of arms itself appears surrounded by two laurel branches.
The first Greek national emblem dates from 1822 and had a circular shape, with the colors blue and white; representing the goddess Athena and her symbol the owl, with the legend "Provisional Administration of Greece" (in Greek, Προσωρινή Διοίκησις της Ελλάδος, Prosoriní Diíkisis tis Elládos). It has undergone numerous changes both in form and design, especially due to changes in the political regime.
At the time of Prime Minister Kapodistrias (1828 - 1832), the phoenix, a symbol of rebirth, was adopted. During the reign of Otto of Bavaria, the royal arms (the shield with the silver cross on a field of azure, stamped with the royal crown and flanked by two crowned lions) became the Greek national emblem. With the arrival of Jorge I the previous shield was replaced by one of Danish inspiration.
With the advent of the republic in 1924, Greece came to have as its emblem simply the azure shield with the silver cross. The royal arms were reintroduced with the restoration of the monarchy in 1935 and were used until 1973, when a military junta abolished the monarchy. The current design, the work of artist Kostas Grammatópoulos, was adopted on June 7, 1975 when the royal crown and other elements associated with the ancient Greek monarchy and its dynastic ties were removed.
