FLAG 



2199 



FLAG 



combines black and white, the colors of 

 Prussia, with red and white, the colors of 

 the Hanseatic League. 



Greece. The colors of the Greek flag, blue 

 and white, were adopted in 1833 in compli- 

 ment to Otto of Bavaria, who became the 

 first king of modern Greece. His arms were 

 light blue and white, but after he was deposed 

 in 1862 the Greek flag became dark blue and 

 white, the present colors. The canton or union 

 of the flag bears a Greek cross in white on 

 a blue ground, this being the royal standard. 



Italy. The flag of Italy vertical bars of 

 green, white and red was designed by Napo- 

 leon I, his idea being to give the kingdom of 

 Italy, which he created, a flag of its own, but 

 at the same time to indicate its source by its 

 close resemblance to the flag of France. In 

 1848 this flag was accepted by King Victor 

 Emmanuel II of Sardinia, who added to it 

 the arms of his family, the House of Savoy. 

 When he became king of United Italy the 

 flag was retained. It is exactly like the flag 

 of Mexico, except for the addition of the 

 arms of Savoy. 



The Netherlands. When Holland became 

 independent, in 1579 it adopted as its flag the 

 colors of William of Orange orange, white and 

 blue, and in 1599 it was officially decided that 

 the flag should be composed of three stripes 

 of equal width. Just when or why the orange 

 was changed to red is not known one histo- 

 rian says the change was probably due to the 

 "indefiniteness of the orange and its liability 

 to fade in the salt sea air." It is certain that 

 by 1643 the Dutch flag had assumed the famil- 

 iar form shown in the color plate. 



Portugal. Although a republic since 1910, 

 Portugal has kept the flag of the monarchy, 

 with the royal arms. The arms were devised 

 by King Alphonso I in 1139, to commemorate 

 the victories over the Moors by which Portu- 

 gal won independence. On a silver shield are 

 five small blue shields arranged in the form 

 of a cross, and each blue shield bears five 

 silver spots. The five blue shields represent 

 five Moorish princes whom Alphonso defeated, 

 and the five spots are the five wounds of Christ, 

 who gave Alphonso strength to conquer. A red 

 border, with seven golden castles, was added 

 in 1252 after King Alphonso III married a 

 princess of Castile. On the national flag the 

 arms are placed in an armillary circle of gold; 

 this circle, added in honor of Prince Henry 

 the Navigator, represents the relative posi- 

 tions of the principal celestial sphere. The fly 



of the flag is red, the national color, while the 

 band of green is also in honor of Prince Henry. 



Russia. The imperial standard of Russia, 

 the double-headed eagle, dates from 1472, when 

 Ivan the Great married the niece of Con- 

 stantine Palaeologus and assumed the arms 

 of the Eastern Empire. When Peter the Great 

 began to create a Russian navy and mercan- 

 tile marine he wanted a flag for his ships. He 

 did the most natural thing under the cir- 

 cumstances; he adopted the colors of the 

 Dutch, who had taught him how to build ships. 

 Peter reversed the order of the bars, making 

 them blue, white and red, but some later 

 expert, realizing that a flag reversed was a 

 sign of distress, again changed the flag to its 

 present form. 



The present Russian flag, reversed, was 

 adopted by Serbia as its own emblem to com- 

 memorate Russia's aid in winning independence 

 for its fellow-Slavs. Montenegro's flag is the 

 same as Serbia's except for the initials H. I. 

 surmounted by a crown. 



Spain. The flag of Spain combines yellow, 

 the color of Aragon, with red, the color of 

 Castile. The flag of the royal navy has a 

 broad yellow band enclosed by a narrower 

 red band at top and bottom; on the yellow 

 band and near the flagstaff are the arms of 

 Leon impaled on those of Castile. 



Switzerland. The Swiss flag is red with a 

 white cross in the center, the flag of the medi- 

 eval Crusaders. An early Swiss chronicler, after 

 giving a list of the Swiss forces leaving Berne 

 in 1339 to march against an alliance of the 

 nobles, tells why the flag was chosen: "All 

 were distinguished by the sign of the Holy 

 Cross, a white cross on a red shield, for the 

 reason that the freeing of the nation was for 

 them a cause as sacred as the deliverance of 

 the Holy Places." The Swiss flag, with the 

 colors reversed, is the familiar Red Cross. 



Turkey. The origin of the Turkish flag 

 is veiled in legend, but according to the story 

 generally accepted is as follows. Philip of 

 Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, was 

 besieging Byzantium in 339 B. c. He was 

 meeting with no success, but as a last resort 

 attempted at night to undermine the walls. 

 On the appointed night, however, the crescent 

 moon shone so brightly that the defenders 

 saw the attackers in time and saved the city. 

 In gratitude to Diana the crescent was adopted 

 as the city's emblem. When the Turks cap- 

 tured the city in 1453 they promptly appro- 

 priated the crescent and henceforth put it on 



