Flag of Greece

The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the Blue-and-White or the Cyan-and-White, is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has 9 horizontal stripes of alternating blue and white. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolises Christianity. The blazon of the flag is azure, four bars argent; on a canton of the field a Greek cross throughout of the second. The shade of blue used in the flag has varied throughout its history, from light blue to dark blue, the latter being increasingly used since the late 1960s. It was officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822.

In 1978, the sea flag was adopted as the sole national flag, with a 2:3 ratio. The use of the Greek flag is regulated by Law 851. The Government of Greece has never specified exactly which shade of blue should be used for the flag, and as such flags with many varying shades exist. The National Flag of Greece is cyan and white, it is made up of nine (9) stripes equal in width, of which five (5) are cyan and four (4) are white so that the upper and lower stripes are cyan and the others in between are white. Because of the use of the word "cyan" (Greek: κυανός, kyanós), which can also mean "blue" in Greek, the exact shade of blue remains ambiguous. Although it implies the use of a light shade of blue, such as on the flag of the United Nations, the colours of the Greek flag tend to be a relatively dark blue, especially since the Regime of the Colonels (though during the reign of Otto I a very light shade of cyan was commonly used). Consequently, the shade of blue is largely left to the flagmakers to decide. In a 2010 document, the specific shade of blue used in the coat of arms of Greece was given as Pantone 280 U/C/M or CMYK 100/70/0/20. Though web colors specifications are not…