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The flag of Greece (popularly referred to as the "sky-blue-white" or the "blue-white" and in Greek: "Γαλανόλευκη" or "Κυανόλευκη"), officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols, is based on 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. According to popular tradition, the nine 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". The nine stripes are also said to represent the letters of the word "freedom" (Greek: Ελευθερία). There is also a different theory, that the nine stripes symbolise the nine Muses, the goddesses of art and civilisation (nine has traditionally been one of the numbers of reference for the Greeks).〔Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra: (Η καθιέρωση της ελληνικής σημαίας ("The adoption of the Greek flag") ), Hellenic Army General Staff, 2003〕 The official flag ratio is 2:3.〔(''The Flag'', from the site of the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic )〕 The blazon of the flag is ''Azure, four bars Argent; on a canton of the field a Greek cross throughout of the second.'' 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. The above patterns were officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822. Blue and white have many interpretations, symbolising the colours of the famed Greek sky and sea (combined with the white clouds and waves), traditional colours of Greek clothes in the islands and the mainland, etc. ==History== The origins of today's national flag with its cross-and-stripe pattern are a matter of debate. Every part of it, including the blue and white colours (see below), the cross, as well as the stripe arrangement can be connected to very old historical elements; however it is difficult to establish "continuity", especially as there is no record of the exact reasoning behind its official adoption in early 1822. It has been suggested by some Greek historians that the current flag derived from an older design, the virtually identical flag of the powerful Cretan Kallergis family. This flag was based on their coat of arms, whose pattern is supposed to be derived from the standards of their claimed ancestor, Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas (963–969 AD). This pattern (according to not easily verifiable descriptions) included nine stripes of alternating blue and white, as well as a cross, assumed to be placed on the upper left 〔N. Zapheiriou, ''Η Ελληνική Σημαία από τους αρχαίους χρόνους μέχρι σήμερα (The Greek Flag from Antiquity to Present)'', Eleftheri Skepsis, Athens 1995 (reprint of original 1947 publication) ISBN 960-7199-60-X〕 The stripe-pattern of the Greek flag is visibly similar to that used in several other flags that have appeared over the centuries, most notably that of the British East India Company's pre-1707 flag or the flag of the United States of America. However, in such cases of flags derived from much older designs, it is very difficult to prove or trace original influences. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Flag of Greece」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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