What the flag of Greece looks like - national colors of the country's coat of arms, photo and description. Flag and coat of arms of Greece

Rectangular panel with an aspect ratio of 2:3. It consists of nine equal horizontal alternating stripes of blue and white. In the upper left corner of the flag there is a blue square, in which a white horizontal cross is inscribed.

Symbolism

The flag has many meanings. According to one version, nine stripes are nine Greek regions: Thessaly, Macedonia, Thrace, Peloponnese, Crete, Central Greece, the Aegean and Ionian Islands. Also, nine stripes can mean nine syllables in the motto of the Greek revolutionaries "Ελευθερία ή θάνατος" ("Freedom or Death"). According to another version, the nine stripes symbolize the nine letters in the word "freedom" ("ελευθερία"). Finally, the stripes may represent the nine Muses, or the nine stripes on the shield of Achilles.

White and blue colors are a symbol of the people of Greece, that is, the unity of language, religion and blood (according to ancient beliefs, it is blue among the Greeks). On the other hand, colors can also symbolize the sea and waves, sky and clouds.

The cross on the flag is a symbol of Christianity, Orthodoxy, and also a symbol of two ancient Greek gods: Zeus and Helios.

Story

The first Greek flag was adopted on March 27, 1822. There is a legend about the creation of the flag, according to which it was first raised over one of the Greek monasteries. There, the surviving rebels hid from the Turkish troops. The first flag was made from a blue monastic robe and a white soldier's skirt. During the Second World War on the island of Santorini, the local population was forbidden to raise the state flag. Proud Greeks repainted their houses overnight in the colors of the flag. This tradition is alive to this day.

Elegant Greek flags of blue and white color will accompany you on your journey through Hellas from the first to the last day. Not to mention the ubiquitous presence of the flag itself, its colors are generated by the Greek landscape itself: sometimes, looking at the sea, where the azure smooth surface touches the slightly foggy, whitish sky, it seems as if you can clearly see at least two of the nine stripes of the national banner.

Say a word about the flag of Greece

You will not find a house in all of Hellas where the national flag of Greece would not be kept. The sizes are very different, from "manual" blue and white flags to giant banners with a cross on the shaft. On the eve of especially patriotic holidays (, ) in Greece, flags are even delivered in bulk to supermarkets, where they are quickly sorted out as a “product of the day”. On the days of the parades, the panels adorn almost every balcony in the city.

The national flags of Greece flutter proudly in any school yard - they are hoisted every morning before the start of classes, along with a common morning prayer.

Not a single church building is complete without the flag of Greece: there, on a nearby pole, it is always accompanied by a yellow banner with a black double-headed eagle - the glorious emblem of Eternal Constantinople, which symbolizes the belonging of the Greek Orthodox Church to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The history of the Greek flag is not so deeply rooted - only in the 19th century. It all started with the struggle for the independence of Greece from the hated Ottoman yoke.

In 1807, in one of the monasteries on the island of Skiathos, the monk and priest Niphon spread the blue and white banner of resurgent Greece and on it took an oath of allegiance to the Motherland from several partisan leaders of the Uprising.

The flag of Greece in its modern form was approved only in 1978.

The official beginning of the Resistance Movement in Greece was laid on March 25, 1821, when on the great holiday, Metropolitan Herman consecrated and blessed the banner, which is a white cloth with a blue cross, for the fight against the Turks. Later, the ratio of colors on the flag was changed: the background became blue, and the cross became white.

It is impossible not to mention one of the legends about the appearance of colors on the flag of Greece: allegedly, the rebels, who were hiding from the Turks in one of the monasteries, raised a blue-white flag over it, sewn from a blue monastic cassock and a white skirt worn by Greek soldiers. I am not going to dispute or legalize this legend, but perhaps the truth lies in the middle, and the partisans sewed the flag of Greece in these colors because they already knew about its existence? ..

Invited in 1833 to lead the young independent Greek state, King Otto I fully approved the blue flag with a white cross, since these colors matched the colors of the coat of arms of his native Bavaria as well as possible.

If the colors of the national flag of Greece - blue and white - could be considered well-established, then things were more complicated with the number of stripes and the final format. Until 1978, this question remained open. Abroad, as a maritime and commercial flag, there was a flag consisting of 9 alternating blue and white stripes with a cross in the left corner, and inside the state a blue flag with a white cross was adopted. Periodically for decades, for the sake of the royal house, the crown appeared and disappeared on the flag of Greece. The inconstancy of the banner was akin to the vicissitudes that were happening inside Greece. Finally, after the overthrow of the monarchy in Greece and the military regime of the "black colonels", after a series of civil wars and the proclamation of Greece as a Republic, in 1978, by state decree, the only flag of Greece as we know it today was proclaimed: nine stripes - five blue and four white, with white cross in the left corner.

The coat of arms of Greece was “redrawn” 7 times until it took on a modern look

The symbolism of the flag of Greece has several versions and related legends.

According to one version, blue-white colors imitate the sea surface with layers of white foam, according to another, the symbolism denotes freedom and hope.

Let's also not forget that the colors of the flag of the resurgent Greece should have been fundamentally different from the Turkish banners. Indeed, the blue and white colors are the most contrasting in relation to the red Ottoman banner.

Nine stripes of the flag of Greece: The most common version is the slogan of the fighters for Independence encrypted in the banner: "Freedom or Death". In the Greek version, these two words - "Eleftheria and Thanatos" - form nine syllables together, which symbolize nine stripes on the flag. By the way, the number of letters in the word "Freedom" - "Eleftheria" - is also nine.

About the meaning of the cross on the flag of Greece, which, unlike the stripes, was originally present in all versions of the banner, most likely, it is even superfluous to talk: and yet I remind you that the cross indicates that Greece belongs to Christianity.

Note: having learned that one of the first variants of the flag of Greece was a white cloth with a blue cross, many Russians shudder joyfully and draw a parallel with the St. Andrew's flag - the stern banner of the Russian Navy. Yes, it does! But, alas, there is no real parallel. St. Andrew's flag was approved by Peter I back in 1712, and the oblique cross depicted in it is the instrument of execution of the Apostle Andrew, known as the St. Andrew's Cross.

Coat of arms of Greece

The Greek coat of arms has also undergone various metamorphoses in its history, but its final appearance turned out to be quite conservative: a shield with a pointed end, against which a white cross stands out against a blue background, and the emblem is framed on both sides with laurel branches. Everything ingenious, as they say, is simple, and one can only marvel at what variants of the coat of arms of Greece appeared in the young state in the period from 1822 to 1975. The minds of Hellas were in constant search, and the coat of arms was varied and “redrawn” as many as seven times!

Anthem of Greece

The Greek hymn to Liberty was written in 1823 by a wonderful poet named Dionysios Solomos, a resident of . In that distant 1823, Greece was just winning the right to be called Greece. It is difficult to overestimate the appearance in those years of a single national anthem - a powerful ideological weapon in the Liberation Struggle. Just a year later, in 1824, the text of the Greek anthem was already published in Greek and Italian, gaining instant widespread circulation. In 1828, the composer Nikolaos Manzaros gave the hymn its logical conclusion by setting the words to music. In the musical arrangement, sorrow, triumph and, of course, pathos are present in equal proportions.

Do you think it is easy for Greek schoolchildren to learn their native anthem? No matter how! It takes at least half a semester, because the prolific Solomos, once smelling inspiration, did not let go of the pen until he had generated as many as 158 (!!!) stanzas of the anthem.

Of course, at such events as, for example, the awarding of prize-winners during the Olympic Games, no one but the Greeks will listen to 158 stanzas of the Greek anthem. Only the first two quatrains are sung:

I recognize the blade of reckoning

blazing storm,

I recognize your winged gaze,

Covering the globe!

Valor of the ancient people,

reborn again,

Hello, proud Freedom,

Hello Hellenes love!

But even two sung quatrains, as a rule, have time to moisten the eyes of a real Greek.

Flag of Greece popularly called "kiano-lefki", which is translated from Greek as "blue-white". This is a rectangular panel with a proportion of 2 to 3 with alternating stripes: 5 blue and 4 white. The top left corner of the flag features a white cross on a blue background.

The symbolism of the Greek flag is ambiguous, there is no official interpretation of the colors and stripes. Most Greeks believe that blue color symbolizes the sea, and white sea foam. The colors of the Greek flag have been used in the symbolism of the country since ancient times, including in the army of Alexander the Great. Perhaps the white and blue range is associated with the traditional colors of Bavaria, which was the birthplace of the first king of Greece.

There are also several similar common versions about the meaning of the nine stripes on the flag:

The word "freedom" in the Greek motto "Freedom or Death" is made up of 9 letters;
- the motto "Freedom or death" has 9 syllables;
- in ancient Greek mythology, there were 9 muses who patronized art and science.

The white cross in the upper corner, according to the most popular version, means the Christian religion, which the people of Greece adhere to. The history of the Greek flag began in 1822 when it was adopted by the provisional government. It was a white St. George's cross on a blue background. It was used for about a century and a half, and in 1978 it was supplemented with stripes.

A separate law is dedicated to the use of the Greek flag, according to which it can be flown both on land and at sea. Ordinary citizens of the country may only fly the flag on certain days or during sporting events. You need to hang the banner in such a way that the cross is located on the left.

The coat of arms of Greece is designed in a similar color scheme, it also uses the image of the George Cross. It is an azure shield with a silver cross, which is often depicted in white on a blue background, as on a flag. The shield is surrounded by a laurel wreath, reminiscent of the ancient history of Greece. Wreaths woven from laurel branches were awarded to the winners of the ancient Olympic Games - today it is a well-known symbol of Greece. Officially, the coat of arms is two-tone with a white and blue wreath, for civilian use the wreath on the coat of arms is green, in the Greek armed forces it is painted in a golden hue.

Modern the coat of arms of Greece was adopted in 1975, but the story of its origin dates back to 1833, when a blue and white cross appeared on the official coat of arms of the Kingdom of Greece. It has undergone changes more than once, losing various elements - lions, armed warriors, crowns, until it acquired a modern look.

What was the first analogue of the modern Greek flag created from?

The national flag of Greece has nine equal width blue and white stripes. The blue color is closer to the azure shade. In the upper left corner is a blue square with a white cross.

Blue is the traditional color of Greece. Such commitment of the Greeks to the number 9 is not accidental. According to some authors, the number of stripes on the national flag corresponds to the number of syllables of the main revolutionary slogan during the struggle for freedom from the Ottoman yoke. Translated from Greek, it meant "Freedom or Death." This slogan led the Greek patriots. He gave them strength in a difficult struggle. According to other historians, the number of stripes on the Greek flag corresponds to the number of letters in the word "freedom". This word perfectly conveys the freedom-loving nature of the Greeks.

In colloquial Greek, the state flag is often referred to as "kyanolefki" or "galanolefki" - "blue and white".

According to the third version, the number of stripes on the flag corresponds to the number of muses in ancient Greek mythology. The muse of epic poetry was Calliope. Clio is the muse of history. Erotic works are inspired by Erato's muse. Euterpe was the patroness of music and lyric poetry. As the muse of tragedies, Melpomene is glorified. Polyhymnia is the muse of solemn hymns. The most familiar to our ears is Terpsichore, the muse of dance. Thalia is the muse of comedy and light poetry. Urania was the patroness of astrology. You can choose any explanation. Each is suitable in its own way. Explanations about why the flag has these colors are also interesting.

Blue and white in Greece can be the sky and clouds, the sea and the foam of its waves. Herodotus said that blue and white are the colors of the Greek people. They talk about a single language, religion, a single blood, which, as he believed, was blue among the Hellenes. The symbolism of the cross has many interpretations. The most interesting thing is that the cross is a tetractys - a symbol of Zeus and Helios. Ellin is the one who has the right, kind, bright and pure thoughts, that is, reasonable and wise.

According to one version, the five blue stripes on the flag of Greece represent the five oceans.

From the fifteenth century Greece was under the Ottoman yoke. The Turks allowed a special flag for private ships in Greece. The red flag was crossed by a blue horizontal stripe. Red is the main color of the Turkish flag. On the island of Crete there were flags with a white stripe. The cross has long become for the Greeks a symbol of the struggle for independence. This symbol is associated with Orthodox Christianity. Liberation from the Muslim yoke - that was the goal of the struggle of the Greek patriots.

The first flags with a white cross appeared with them in the seventeenth century. In 1821, an uprising was raised in Greece. It went on for eight years. Various banners were then used by the rebels. These were banners with the image of the Virgin, complex crosses, the Phoenix bird, and saints. The red banner with white crosses was the most common. But since red is the color of the Turkish flag, this color did not catch on.

The first flag of independent Greece was a straight white cross on a blue cloth and was reminiscent of the flag of Denmark, where the first king Otto was from. The flag of the original form is still used in the army.

In 1822, the independence of Greece was proclaimed, and the blue flag with a white cross was adopted as the state flag. There is a legend about the appearance of the blue-white banner, according to which the rebels, protecting one of the monasteries from the Turks, raised such a banner over it, made of a blue monastic cassock and a white soldier's skirt (according to an old tradition, Greek soldiers, like Scottish ones, wore skirts) .

In 1832, the flag of five white and four blue horizontal stripes became the national flag. When in 1833 Greece was proclaimed a kingdom led by the Bavarian prince Otto, the flag of 1822 was restored, with a white cross. By coincidence, the colors of the Greek flag almost completely coincided with the blue and white colors of the Bavarian flag and coat of arms. The background of the Greek flag under King Otto became blue.

Since 1863, representatives of the Danish royal dynasty of Glücksburg began to occupy the Greek throne. Under them, the shade of the Greek flags changed to dark blue. Since that time, several official flags have existed simultaneously in the country for many years. The national flag inside the country was the traditional flag with a cross, in the center of which was placed a golden royal crown. There was no crown on the national flag.

The nine stripes of the flag of Greece, in addition to designating the sky, sea and clouds, the Greeks associate with the nine stripes on the golden shield of the ancient Greek hero Achilles.

Outside of Greece, as well as in its seaports and civil courts, another flag was used as a national symbol, consisting of five blue and four white stripes with a white cross in a blue roof. This system of flags lasted until the proclamation of the republic in 1923, when the only flag for 12 years was a nine-striped flag with a cross in the roof and was again restored in 1935 after the restoration of the monarchy.

During the years of fascist occupation, when the former government fled to Egypt, the struggle for national liberation was waged by the Greek National Liberation Front. Its flag was blue with a white cross, in the center of which was the outline of a red triangle inscribed in a red circle. Under the same flag in 1945-1949, Greek patriots fought against the British invaders and their monarcho-fascist henchmen. The emigrant government of Greece, which returned to the liberated country in 1944, used the same flags.

In 1970, three years after the establishment of the dictatorship of the "black colonels" in Greece, a nine-striped flag with a cross in the roof was declared the national flag. The same flag with a crown in the center of this cross became the state flag (before that, it had been used as a naval flag for 107 years). In 1973, Greece was proclaimed a republic, but the crown remained on the state flag.

A year after the overthrow of the regime in 1975, blue with a white cross was declared the only state and national flag (lighter than the flags of 1970). The nine-striped flag with a cross in the roof continued to be used only unofficially, as a trade flag. But in 1978, it was this flag that was adopted as the only (state and national) flag.

The tradition of painting houses blue and white dates back to the Second World War in Greece. When the Germans who occupied the island of Santorini forbade proud Greeks from flying Greek flags, the people of Santorini painted their houses in the colors of the Greek flag overnight.

The flag of Greece is a rectangular panel with 9 horizontal stripes of dark blue and white, as well as a white cross on a dark blue field at the top of the flag near the flagpole. The flag was officially adopted in 1978. An interesting fact is that the legislation does not specify what shade the blue color should be. Therefore, shades from blue to dark blue are used. Symbolism of the number 9. It is believed that the number 9 is associated with the phrase "Ελευθερία ή θάνατος", which means "Freedom or death". The number of syllables is 9. Also, 9 means 9 muses, goddesses of art and science. The aspect ratio of the flag is 2:3.

Historical flags of Greece

Flag of the Byzantine Empire (circa 15th century)

This flag belongs to military flags. Used as a military standard.

This flag was used by Greek nationalist patriots who participated in the uprisings against the Ottoman Empire. The flag was a white cloth with a blue St. George's cross.

Flag of Greece proposed by Fereos Rigas (1797)

Phereos was a Greek revolutionary poet.

Fereos Rigas was executed in 1797 in the Belgrade fortress

The territory (protectorate) of Turkey, which had wide autonomy, was previously under the rule of France, was captured by the combined troops of the Russian Empire and Turkey.

Flag of the "Eteria" society (early 19th century)

The members of "Eteria" were young Greek patriots in Greece, then part of the Ottoman Empire, as well as Greek merchants who lived in the Russian Empire (directly - Odessa).

Flag of the Sacred Corps of 1821

The Sacred Corps was the first paramilitary unit that became the backbone of Greece. They fought against the Ottoman Empire.

He was a Greek admiral who fought in the War of Independence.

He was in the army of the Russian Empire in the rank of major general, commander of the 1st hussar brigade. He is a national hero of Greece. Participated in the struggle for the independence of Greece in 1820.

The flag raised by Andreas Londos at the start of the Greek Revolution of 1821

Andreas Londos was a member of the Revolutionary Achaean Directorate, colonel, minister, landowner, patriot.

Allied with Greece after the Balkan Wars.

Flag of Free Ikaria 1912

In 1912, the inhabitants of the island of Icarus revolted and drove out the Turkish garrison. After that, the island formed its own government, which was independent for 5 months. After it was decided to become part of Greece.