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Macedonia (Greece)

Flag of Greek Macedonia - Image by by Mark Sensen, 15 September 1999

Status of the flag of Greek Macedonia
Alternative designs of the flag
Elias Deligiannakis' standard (1906-1908)

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Status of the flag of Greek Macedonia

The "Greek Macedonian" flag (Vergina sun on dark blue) is fairly widespread in Greece and can be easily bought. However, it has no official status. There is no law prescribing its shape or regulating its use.
I remember answering a query about just this matter for Jos Poels of the Flag Institute, a while ago. He asked me for information on an announcement by the Greek government in 1993 that the "Star of Vergina" was to be made the official emblem of the prefecture of Salonica. Here is what I wrote:

From what I recall, the government was proposing to make the Star of Vergina the official emblem of the Prefecture of Salonica (considered 'capital city' of Greek Macedonia). This would indeed have been a bold step, because no other Prefecture has ever had an emblem of its own. They all use, in their official seals, the emblem of the Greek State, which is indeed used by the vast majority of state agencies or local authorities. It seems that Greeks are somewhat lacking in imagination, so far as local emblems go, since there appear to be no province, commune, municipality, prefecture etc. arms or symbols.

It was my impression at the time, and still is, that the intention to make the Sun of Vergina the official emblem of the Prefecture of Salonika may have had a lot to do with some sort of proposal, discussed at about that time as an idea for negotiations, that the (self-styled) "Republic of Macedonia" should not use "official emblems" of neighbouring states, i.e. Greece. I think that the Greek government must have realised that the Star of Vergina, although considered as undoubtedly Greek, was nevertheless not an official Greek emblem, since it was not incorporated in the arms of the Hellenic Republic or any other form of state emblem. To remedy the situation, in anticipation of negotiations, they announced their intention to make it the official emblem of the Prefecture of Salonica. But it seems that the idea about the prohibition on the use of "official emblems" never quite got off the ground, and with it died the plan to make the Star an emblem of Salonica.

Jos used this information (kindly acknowledging the source) in a piece of his in Vexilla Nostra, the journal of the Dutch Vexillogical Society [vxn].

Yannis Natsinas, 15 September 1999

This flag was more than obviously created to annoy Macedonians, inverting the original red and blue of proposal for the first Macedonian flag (the flag that was in use in1992-1995 had no details in the sun-disk, proposal had).

Željko Heimer, 19 April 1996

Alternative designs of the flag

Another Greek Macedonian flag - Image by António Martins, 18 July 1999

I saw in Rhodes Greek Macedonian flags, in two versions: one with only the emblem on blue, and the other with the emblem surrounded by an inscription. In the top half-circle in Greek letters and in the bottom half-circle, in Latin letters, Macedonian Hellas.

Dov Gutterman, 18 July 1999

Incidentally, another version of a flag with the sun of Vergina is one I saw last weekend in Salonica for sale. This is the usual Greek flag (the "sea" version) with a golden star in the fly. The only reason I find it interesting is because it looks like a Greek version of a "defaced" ensign, like the British blue or red ensigns used in colonies, with the colonial badge in the fly.

Yannis Natsinas, 15 September 1999

Another Greek Macedonian flag - Image by Tomislav Todorović, 23 September 2006

Among the flags sold at Lonhi, the Internet shop of Greek extreme right, there is a dark blue flag with the golden sun, which is clearly a variant of the Sun of Vergina, but with central disc enlarged and conjoined with eight main rays into a single shape. The use of this flag in real life is yet to be verified, as I have not seen it outside the Internet shop yet, but its photography does show a real flag made of fabric, so there must be at least one copy of the flag, whose photography is posted at the site, and there might be more copies, ready for sale.

Tomislav Todorović, 23 September 2006

Elias Deligiannakis' standard (1906-1908)

Deligiannakis' standard - Image by Ivan Sache & Jaume Ollé, 16 May 2001

According to the book Hellenic flags [kok97], the flag of the Macedonian fighter Elias Deligiannakis can be seen in the National Historical Museum, Old Parliament, Room IX, in Athens.
The flag is square, blue with a white cross and a dark grey double-headed eagle inscribed in a dark grey circle. The flag has a golden fringe.
The yellow writing above the circle reads ΑΜΥΝΕΣΘΑΙ ΠΕΡΙ ΠΑΤΡΙΣ (Fight for the Fatherland).

Pascal Vagnat & Jarig Bakker, 16 May 2001