 Official name: Hellenic Republic Capital: Athens Location: Europe Date of adoption: December 22, 1978 Proportion: 2:3 |
In the Flag of Greece the cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the religion of the Greek people of Greece and Cyprus.
According to popular tradition, the nine white stripes represent the nine syllables of the phrase “Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος” (“Freedom or Death”), the five blue stripes for the syllables “Έλευθερία” and the four white stripes “ή Θάνατος”.
Prior and during the early days of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829), a large variety of flags was designed, proposed and used by various Greek local leaders, chieftains and regional councils, but the current version was not adopted as the national flag until 1978.
