Flag of Greece

The current Greek flag became the official flag in Dec. 22, 1978. Its nine stripes represent the nine syllables in the the greek phrase "Eleutheria H Thanatos", translated as "Freedom or Death". The cross represents the Greek Orthodox church. The color blue represents the very important sea, used for their trade. It also represents protection, used in amulets to ward off evil. White represents purity.

There were many versions of the flag. It was at first a black cross over a red background. Afterwards it was replaced by a flag with a white cross and a blue background. Neither of these early flags had stripes. Then another flag came around with exactly the opposite of the previous one. It was white with a blue cross.

These flags mainly came about in Greek's struggle for freedom against the Ottoman empire. The first black crossed flag was raised by Andreas Londos. It was flown over Vosititsa, the first freed city. The white cross flag was flown  by an independence group, as was the blue flagged.