---
title: "Flag of Greece: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Greece flag stands for, its official 2:3 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted. Plus the flags it gets mistaken for."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/greece/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Greece

**The flag of Greece: Nine alternating horizontal stripes of blue and white, with a white cross on a blue square in the upper hoist corner.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1978

*[Flag drawn on the page: Greece]*

The nine stripes are traditionally read as the nine syllables of Eleftheria i Thanatos — "Freedom or Death" — the motto of the war of independence, though no founding document says so and the count may simply be a design choice. The blue has changed shade repeatedly by decree, from a pale sky blue in the 1820s through a very dark navy under the 1967-74 junta to today's mid-blue, with no legal Pantone value even now. The nine-striped flag was originally the naval ensign and a plain blue cross flag was used on land; the two were merged in 1978. It is the only national flag with a cross in a canton rather than across the field.

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Blue** (#0D5EAF) — The sea and sky
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — The waves, and purity

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Cross | The Greek Orthodox Church |

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1978
- **Colours:** blue, white

> No Greek law specifies the blue. #0D5EAF is the most-cited modern value; official flags in use range from roughly #005BAE to a much darker #0F3B78.

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Greece look like?

Nine alternating horizontal stripes of blue and white, with a white cross on a blue square in the upper hoist corner.

### What do the colours of the Greece flag mean?

Blue: the sea and sky. White: the waves, and purity.

### When was the Greece flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1978, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Greece](https://atoneplace.net/country/greece/)
- [Every flag with blue in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/blue/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Australia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/australia/)
- [The flag of South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-korea/)

## Sources

- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)