Origins of the modern 'Greek' flag

[TrueMacedonian]

In Kolokotronis memoirs (how much of it is true and not deviated) he makes mention of ;

Our flag had the same cross as that of the Russian banners.

page 120

Russia was the first to rile the Albanians up to fight the Turk. So it would not be so surprising that what ended up becoming the revolutionary flag was in fact inspired by those Russian banners.

And I have seen a few people post this once before - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company

Apparently the flag of the East India Company is strikingly similar to todays modern "greek" flag.

[Soldier of Macedon]

The East India flag is very similar, but I am unaware of any relation between the two.

The citation of Kolokotronis' memoir is interesting, I only have a few excerpts from his memoirs, do we have anything more on the above regarding the Russian banners?

Should we start looking into to Russian naval banners from the 18th century?

[TrueMacedonian]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Russian_flags

Well I can tell you the similarities are there if this is what Kolokotroni saw between the naval flag or St. Andrews flag and their revolutionary flag. There are even similarities in the "first alleged russian flag" with the modern "greek" revolutionary flags.

If this happens to be true then the revolutionary grk flag was of Slavic influence.

[Risto the Great]

Originally Posted by TrueMacedonian

If this happens to be true then the revolutionary grk flag was of Slavic influence.

Which would be a slavic knife in the crusty heart of the poor Greek identity. Oh my, that would surely kill them. Lord knows how the Slavs are the mortal enemy of the Greek.

[Soldier of Macedon]

From Napoleon's initial post on this thread:

Early variants of the Flag and colours of the German state of Bavaria.





An old Bavaria Royal naval jack.



The Royal Flag of Greece with the Bavarian Coat of Arms.



The Modern Flag of Bavaria.




And then we have the Russians................

From the 1710's onwards, the Russian used the below for a Naval flag:


And appearing for the first time (apparently) during the uprising in the Morea in the late 1760's is the following:



Very interesting, why did it first appear in 1769????

Well, let me tell you.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-T...War,_1768-1774

Russian emissaries were sent to Mani in the mid-1760s, to make a pact with the local leaders who represented the strongest military force in Greece at the time. In 1769, during the Russo-Turkish War, a fleet of 14 warships commanded by count Aleksey Grigoryevich Orlov sailed from the Baltic Sea for the Mediterranean. The fleet reached Mani in February 1770, prompting the Maniots to raise their war flags. 50 Russian soldiers remained to help fight in the ground war, while the fleet sailed on to the Aegean Sea.

Hhmmmm...............

[TrueMacedonian]

If it is indeed true then RTG said it best "it would be a slavic knife in the crusty heart of the poor Greek identity."

[Soldier of Macedon]

If it is not taken as a direct copy (with some minor editions) from the Russians and/or Bavarians, the Greek flag is no doubt inspired by Russians and/or Bavarians.

Keep in mind that there was no Greece, hence no Greek army. There were sea merchants, who were under the military 'tutelage' (if one would call it that) of the Russians and/or Bavarians, and hence their influence. They were the people that the sea merchants of Morea looked up to, admired, and ultimately copied.

Unless of course there is a precedence for the Greek flag prior to the Russians and Bavarians......no luck finding anything so far.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Here is another gem from TM, which fits nicely with the above, apparently taken from the memoirs of Kolokotronis.



Russian Flag + Bavarian Flag = Greek Flag.

[Atesh]

The first "King" of Greece was "Bavyera Prer si Otto". He's a Bavarian. In 1814-1815, European Concert named, Prer si Otto king of Greece after 15 years of strategy by England, French and Russian in European Concert for give indepandance to Greece for use it like a satellite. In 1830, Ottoman Empire must recognize Greece and first king isn't greek, but Bavarian. Russia wanted Istanbul, so say to greek separatist, we will give you Istanbul. Russian wanted Greece like a pawn.

"Source: Political suicide of Turkey New-Ottoman's trap"

[Coolski]

Hey guys don't forget to consider the flag of the East India Trading company.