History of The Greek Flag
See also: List of Greek flagsUse | State and war flag |
---|---|
Variant flag of Kingdom of Greece | |
Use | Civil flag |
Variant flag of Kingdom of Greece | |
Use | State and naval ensign |
Variant flag of Kingdom of Greece | |
Use | Civil ensign |
The origins of today's national flag with its cross-and-stripe pattern are a matter of debate. Every part of it, including the blue and white colors (see below), the cross, as well as the stripe arrangement can be connected to very old historical elements; however it is difficult to establish "continuity", especially as there is no record of the exact reasoning behind its official adoption in early 1822.
It has been suggested by some Greek historians that the current flag derived from an older design, the virtually identical flag of the powerful Cretan Kallergis family. This flag was based on their coat of arms, whose pattern is supposed to be derived from the standards of their claimed ancestor, Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas (963–969 AD). This pattern (according to not easily verifiable descriptions) included nine stripes of alternating blue and white, as well as a cross, assumed to be placed on the upper left
The stripe-pattern of the Greek flag is visibly similar to that used in several other flags that have appeared over the centuries, most notably that of the British East India Company's pre-1707 flag or the flag of the United States of America. However, in such cases of flags derived from much older designs, it is very difficult to prove or trace original influences.
Read more about this topic: Flag Of Greece
Famous quotes containing the words history of, history, greek and/or flag:
“When the history of guilt is written, parents who refuse their children money will be right up there in the Top Ten.”
—Erma Brombeck (20th century)
“The true theater of history is therefore the temperate zone.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (17701831)
“The gothic is singular in this; one seems easily at home in the renaissance; one is not too strange in the Byzantine; as for the Roman, it is ourselves; and we could walk blindfolded through every chink and cranny of the Greek mind; all these styles seem modern when we come close to them; but the gothic gets away.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (18381918)
“What is Americanism? Every one has a different answer. Some people say it is never to submit to the dictation of a King. Others say Americanism is the pride of liberty and the defence of an insult to the flag with their gore. When some half-developed person tramples on that flag, we should be ready to pour out the blood of the nation, they say. But do we not sit in silence when that flag waves over living conditions which should be an insult to all patriotism?”
—Anna Howard Shaw (18471919)