Greece

Ellás - Hellenic Republic, Ellinikì Dhimokratìa

Last modified: 2005-08-06 by ivan sache
Keywords: greece | ellas | europe | cross (white) | jack | coat of arms (national) |
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by Željko Heimer

Flag adopted 22 December 1978, coat of arms adopted 7 June 1975.
Description: Nine horizontal stripes, alternately blue and white; a white cross on a blue square field in canton.
Proportion: 2:3
Use: on land, civil, State and war flag, at sea, civil, State and war ensign.

Colour approximate specifications (as given in Album des Pavillons [pay00]):

• Blue: Pantone 286 c / CMYK (%) C 100 - M 60 - Y 0 - K 5

On this page:

• Origin and meaning of the Greek flag
• Unofficial alternative Greek flag
• Shade of the Greek flag
• Grrek jack
• Greek coat of arms

See also:

• Greece: Index of all related pages

Origin and meaning of the Greek flag

The striped flag has been in use since 1822, and was approved in 1832.

The nine stripes are said to stand for the nine syllables of the Greek patriots' motto:

Ελευθερια η Θανατος (Eleutheria ê Thanatos), meaning "Freedom or Death".

This motto is now the national motto of Greece.