page_title: Flag of Greece
section_title: Theories regarding the blue and white colours
hierarchical_section_title: Flag of Greece / Historical background / Theories regarding the blue and white colours
caption_attribution_description: English: View of the Caldera of Santorini with a church in the foreground. Ελληνικά: Θέα της Καλντέρας στη Σαντορίνη με μία εκκλησία.
context_page_description: The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "blue and white" or the "sky blue and white", is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the established religion of the Greek people of Greece and Cyprus. The blazon of the flag is Azure, four bars Argent; on a canton of the field a Greek cross throughout of the second. The official flag ratio is 2:3. The shade of blue used in the flag has varied throughout its history, from light blue to dark blue, the latter being increasingly used since the late 1960s. It was officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822.
  According to popular tradition, the nine stripes represent the nine syllables of the phrase Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος, the five blue stripes for the syllables Ελευθερία and the four white stripes ή Θάνατος. The nine stripes are also said to represent the letters of the word "freedom".
context_section_description: Several Greek researchers have attempted to establish a continuity of usage and significance of the blue and white colours, throughout Greek history.
  Usages cited include the pattern of blue and white formations included on the shield of Achilles, the apparent connection of blue with goddess Athena, some of Alexander the Great's army banners, possible blue and white flags used during Byzantine times, supposed coats of arms of imperial dynasties and noble families, uniforms, emperors' clothes, patriarchs' thrones etc., 15th century versions of the Byzantine Imperial Emblems  and, of course, cases of usage during the Ottoman rule and the Greek revolution.
  On the other hand, the Great Greek Encyclopedia notes in its 1934 entry on the Greek flag that "very many things have been said for the causes which lead to this specification for the Greek flag, but without historical merit".
caption: It is widely believed that the colours of the Greek flag come from the blue of the sky and the white of the waves.
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