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Salonica (Greece)

Θεσσαλονίκα

Municipal flag of Salonica - Image by Pascal Vagnat, 10 February 2006

Presentation of Salonica
Municipal flag of Salonica
Nautical Club of Salonica
Flag of "Salonica" in the "Book of All Kingdoms" (XIVth century)

See also:

Presentation of Salonica

Salonica (800,000 inhabitants, including the outskirts) is the capital of the Greek Macedonia. The town is located on the Gulf of Salonica, which opens on the Aegean Sea.

Between 1204 and 1224, Salonica was the capital of a Latin kingdom. From 1430 to 1913, the town was under Ottoman domination. During the First World War, Salonica hosted the headquarters of the Eastern Allied Forces. The Jewish community of Salonica, one of the most important in Europe, was exterminated by the Nazis during the Second World War.

Ivan Sache, 27 January 2002

Municipal flag of Salonica

The Greek national news agency (ANA - Athens New Agency) reports the preparation of the bid of Salonica for the 2016 World Expo, including the following statement:

In another development, a majority of council members approved of Salonica's new flag, which will feature a likeness of Alexander the Great.

The report includes a picture with the following caption:

Salonica Mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos, right, displays the northern port city's new municipal flag during a previous council meeting last week. ANA / N. Arvanitidis.

The flag is vertically divided white-blue with in the middle a yellow disk charged with the likeness of Alexander the Great. The emblem seems to have been drawn after a coin or a medal.
THe flag was designed by the architect Ms. Efi Seira. The crenate top of the white part of the flag represents the fortifications of the city.
A big image of the flag can be seen here.

According to the newspaper Ekathimerini, the likeness of Alexander the Great has been shown on all the municipal flags used in Salonica since 1984.

Ivan Sache, Pascal Vagnat & Paraskevas Renesis, 10 February 2006

Nautical Club of Salonica

Burgee of NC Salonica - Image by Ivan Sache, 27 January 2002

The burgee of the NC Salonica (Ναυτικός Όμιλος Θεσσαλονίκης) is dark blue with a light blue cross. In the middle of the cross is a dark blue disc bearing a yellow fouled anchor surrounded by the Greek letters N, O and Θ. This is probably the acronym of the yacht club name. All the elements of the burgee are fimbriated in yellow.

Source: NCT website

Ivan Sache, 27 January 2002

Flag of "Salonica" in the "Book of All Kingdoms" (XIVth century)

Flag of "Salonica" in the "Book of All Kingdoms" - Image by Eugene Ipavec, 21 December 2007

The "Book of All Kingdoms" [f0fXX], of 1350, tells the voyages of an anonymous Castilian friar and is illustrated with 113 flag images, referred to (though seldom described) in the text.
The 94th flag mentioned and illustrated in the "Book of All Kingdoms" [f0fXX] is attributed to Salonica.
The 2005 Spanish illustrated transcription of the "Book" [f0f05] shows a red flag with a yellow cross throughout, each of its quarters being taken by a yellow chain link (the bottom fly one round and the other squarish); the flag is shown in the ogival default shape of this source. The flag is identical to three other flags in this source (96th, 97th and 103rd), all related to the Byzantine Empire.

The anonymous author of the "Book" describes the flag thusly:
E el rey d'esta Salonico h&aaacute; por señales un pendón bermejo con una cruz de oro e cuatro eslabones de oro d'esta manera (The King of Salonica has for his device a red flag with a yellow cross and four chain links).
This design, of course, is based on the four-B Byzantine emblem, which is widespead in the area.

António Martins, 17 December 2007