Last modified: 2003-11-22 by ivan sache
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According to Carr [car 61]:
"The first national flag of Greece, adopted in 1822, was red with
a white cross, and it is generally believed that the change to light
blue and white was made when Otto of Bavaria (the son of Louis I)
became King of Greece in 1832, light blue and white being the colours
of his family.
There is some reason to believe, however, that light blue and white
were used in the wars against Turkey some
time before the Bavarian prince ascended the throne."
Santiago Dotor, 14 March 2003
It is a fact that the first King of Greece, Otto, was Bavarian and because the Bavarian colours were blue and white, this has lead to an incorrect conclusion by some that the origin of the Greek colours are to be found here. The Greek colours were already determined in 1822, ten years before before the Bavarian Prince ascended the Greek throne.
Yannis Natsinas & Andre van de Loo, 14 March 2003
Captioned: #142. Greece.
Blue field with a decentered white cross and arms in the 'middle' of
the cross. The arms look like a Bavarian lozengy shield with a crown.
These arms are logical because the Oldenburg dynasty replaced the
Wittelsbach one in 1862, the year Colton's work was published.
Captioned: #143. Greek Merchant.
Flag similar to the current Greek national flag, but with a
rectangular canton.
Both flags seem to be erroneous.
Source: Colton's Delineation of Flags of All Nations (1862), colour plate reproduced in Znamierowski [zna99])
Ivan Sache, 10 March 2001