Greece Index
Find Places of Interest, Hotels, Apartments, Restaurants, Car Rental and Other Services in Greece
Greece Index
Find Places of Interest, Hotels, Apartments, Restaurants, Car Rental and Other Services in Greece
Greek Flag
The national flag of Greece consists of nine horizontal stripes of equal width, five blue and four white alternately, the first and last stripes being blue.
In the upper left corner is a blue square containing a white cross, which occupies the first five stripes.
The Greek flag is hoisted on a white flagstaff at the top of which there is (on certain occasions) a white cross.
The design and colours (blue and white) of the Greek national flag were established in January 1822 at the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
On 15 March of the same year, the Executive Body (the Government), which had taken over the interim administration of Greece, specified by Decree 540 three types of flag: one land flag and two marine flags, one of which was for the navy and the other for the merchant marine.
The land flag was square with a white cross on a blue ground, extending to the edges. The marine flags resembled today’s national flag. The only difference in the flag of the merchant marine was the reversal of colours in the corner, with a blue cross on a white ground. The merchant navy flag was equated with that of the navy in 1828, when it was recognized that merchant ships had taken part in the War of Independence as warships.
From 1864 onwards the flag of the infantry regiments was made of silk with a gold fringe, with the image of their patron saint, St George, in the centre of the white cross.
The flags of the armed forces flags today are the national flag for the Navy, and for the Army and Air Force a rectangular flag consisting of a white cross on a blue ground, the cross dividing the flag into four equal parts. In the centre of the cross, the Army flag bears the likeness of St George, while the Air Force version bears that of the Archangel Michael.