flag of Greece

The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "blue and white one" or the "azure and white", is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The blazon of the flag is Azure, four bars Argent; on a canton of the field a Greek cross throughout of the second. 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 at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822. The nine stripes do not have any official meaning; the most popular theory says that they represent the syllables of the phrase ("Freedom or Death"), the five blue stripes for the syllables and the four white stripes . The nine stripes is also said to represent the letters of the word "freedom". White and blue symbolise the colours of the Greek sky and sea. Historical background 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, 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. The color blue most likely derives from the civil ensign of the Roman (Orthodox Christian, Greek) merchant flag (1453-1793) in the Ottoman Empire. It has been suggested by 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. Although the use of alternating blue and white - or silver - stripes on (several centuries-old) Kallergis' coats of arms is well documented, no depiction of the above described pattern (with the nine stripes and the cross) survives.