1821-2021

The Story Behind the Greek Flag

Referred to as the Γαλανόλευκη (galanolefki) or Κυανόλευκη (kyanolefki), the national flag of Greece consists of a white cross on a blue background in the upper left corner of the banner, with nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. The cross represents Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the official religion of the Greek nation and Cyprus.

Traditionally, the belief is that the nine stripes represent the nine syllables of the phrase ‘Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος’ (‘Eleftheria I Thanatos’, which means Freedom or Death), though some say they are meant to symbolise the nine letters of the Greek word ‘freedom’ (ελευθερία or eleftheria). Another theory states that the nine stripes represent the nine Muses of Greek mythology, but this hasn’t been verified. However, there seems to be a consensus on the chosen colours, which are supposed to symbolise the colours of the sky and the sea – two things important to the Greek economy and culture.

During the Ottoman occupation and the first few years of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829), many flags were used by different people, with several featuring mottoes, emblems and even saints. But in an effort to rally the nation under one central administration, the Greeks chose the version of the flag that we know today, which dates back to 1822, a year after the new state declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821.

Greek Independence Day, March 25, is the day the Greeks celebrate the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman empire ruled over Greece from 1453 until 1832. Prior to this, Greece was ruled by the Byzantine empire.
The war of independence was waged by Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1832, after 400 years of occupation and oppression by the Ottoman Turks. With the help of Russia, the United Kingdom, and France, Greece drove the Turks out, and became an independent nation in May 1832.

Video: Greek War of Independence

"If I am a poet, ... the air of Greece has made me one."

Lord Byron: The Romantic Poet Who Died for Greece

Lord George Gordon Byron is one of the first and best-known philhellenes, who actively participated in Greece’s War of Independence, eventually losing his life in Missolonghi on April 19, 1824.
Born in 1788, George Gordon Byron became the leading figure of British Romanticism at the beginning of the 19th century, living a full life in every aspect and dying young, something that made him a romantic legend.
Young, handsome and aristocratic, Byron lived in exuberance.
For Greeks, Λόρδος Βύρωνας, as he is called, epitomized the word ‘philhellene’ as he died at the age of 36 for the freedom of a homeland that was not even his own.
Byron was also a bitter opponent of Lord Elgin’s removal of the Parthenon sculptures, denouncing the “theft” in the poem The Course of Minerva.

In 1823 Byron received an invitation to actively support the Greek struggle for independence from Ottoman rule. He spent a tremendous amount of his personal fortune to repair ships of the Greek fleet and set up his own military squad, composed of fighters from Souli.
After staying for six months in Cephalonia, he decided to move to Morias (Peloponnese), but he finally stayed in Messolongi, where he contacted Alexandros Mavrokordatos, to whom he gives another large amount of his personal fortune for the needs of the Greek revolution.

Byron fell ill in February 1824. The great philhellene died on April 19, 1824 in Missolonghi, at the age of 36.
The lament of his death was spread not only among the Greek freedom fighters who saw him as a hero of their own, but also in England, where the death of the distinguished romantic poet was mourned.
Dionysios Solomos – Greece’s national poet who wrote the National Anthem – eventually composed a long ode in Byron’s memory.

Εἰς τὸν θάνατον τοῦ Λόρδου Μπάϋρον
Διονύσιος Σολωμός (1798-1857)
1.
Λευτεριά, γιὰ λίγο πάψε
νὰ χτυπᾶς μὲ τὸ σπαθί.
Τώρα σίμωσε καὶ κλάψε
εἰς τοῦ Μπάιρον τὸ κορμί.
Ode on the Death of Lord Byron
Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857)
(first verse)
For a moment, Liberty,
Let the war, the bloodshed rest;
Hither come and silently
Over Byron's body weep.