Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Introduction
Official Greece accuses its northern neighbour, the Republic of Macedonia for "stealing the Ancient
Greek heritage", which according to the Greek side also includes Ancient Macedonia and its
symbols, one of them being the so called Sun of Vergina. The symbol was once used as an emblem
on the flag of the Republic of Macedonia, which caused a dispute between the two countries
(actually it was an unilateral protest from the Greek side).
Greece is so fast in accusing other nations for "stealing history" that she forgets that she is the one
that actually stole a symbol of another nation- an old English flag:
Whoops! Who's the real thief now?
Left: The flag used on the ships of the colonial English Honourable East India Company
established in 1600; Right: The modern Greek flag initialy adopted in 1822. So, Greece nicked a
foreign flag, changed the colors.. and Voila! We have a flag! Before you disagree, count the number
of the stripes, both flags have 9. The Greeks claim that they represent the 9 sylables of their
Independence War motto: "Elefteria i Thanatos!" ("Freedom or Death!"). Why should a 17 century
English flag also have exactly 9 stripes then? The Greek cross in the canton is evidently stolen
from the red English St. George's cross and re-painted in white. Shame...
The East India Company flag changed over time. There has been much debate and discussion
regarding the number of stripes on the flag and the order of the stripes. Historical documents and
paintings show many variations from nine to thirteen stripes, with some images showing the top
stripe being red and others showing the top stripe being white. In any case, its obvious that the
whole concept of this flag was stolen by Greece and incorporated in its modern flag.
Backround information
The newly independent country was immediatly confronted by Greece. Official Greece denies the
existence of a separate Macedonian nation, the existence of a separate ethnic Macedonian minority
on its territory, and it perceived its neighbour as a threat to its northern province. Namelly, official
Greece claims an exclusive right over the Ancient Macedonian heritage. Important elements of this
are: the very name Macedonia and the Ancient Macedonian symbol, the 16-ray Vergina Sun (or
Star), found in what is considered the alleged tomb of the king Phillip II, the father of Alexander the
Great. Greece doesnt allow the Republic of Macedonia, which also claims relations to the Ancient
Macedonia to use them in any way.
Thats why:
• Greece, which has its own province of Macedonia demands that the Republic of Macedonia
changes it constitutional name (although the UK which has a part called Northern Ireland
doesnt demand from the Republic of Ireland to change its name; the US state New Mexico
doesnt demand from the country Mexico to change its name).
• Greece also demanded from the Republic of Macedonia to change its own national flag,
which featured the Vergina Sun, claimed by Greece as a Greek symbol (though Ancient
Macedonia was not one of the city-states that comprised the Ancient Greek world, actually
it was their worst enemy, just imagine: Jews claiming the nazi swastika as their symbol).
To achieve its goals, official Greece imposed an economic embargo on the Republic of Macedonia
in the early 1990's and started a nationalist lobbying campaign both at home and abroad. Then, the
Republic of Macedonia followed a policy of peaceful coexistence with its neighbours. During the
1990s, it was the only former Yugoslav country which stayed away from the Yugoslav Wars and
was often refered to as The Oasis of Peace.
As a result of the Greek pressure, the Republic of Macedonia was forced to make many concessions
to appease its southern neighbour and to prevent a further conflict:
• The Republic of Macedonia accepted to join the UN under a provisional name "the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" ( F.Y.R.O.M. )
• Certain changes were made to the Macedonian constitution (to show that the country doesnt
have any territorial claims to Greece);
• The national flag of the Republic of Macedonia with the Vergina Sun was replaced with a
new different flag
• The president Kiro Gligorov had to give a statement that the modern ethnic Macedonians are
descendents of the Slavs who arrived in the Balkans in the 6th century, and who have
nothing in common with Ancient Macedonia.
However, despite accepting to be named FYROM in the UN, the Republic of Macedonia rejected to
change its constitutional name for domestic use, and for billateral use with those countries who do
not object it. Thats how the Republic of Macedonia was recognized under its constitutional name by
the USA, Canada, Russian Federation, People's Republic of China, Turkey and many other
countries.
The Flag dispute
Its claimed that the Ancient Macedonians often used a stylized depiction of a sunburst (or a
starburst) as their symbol. It can be seen with 16, 8 or 12 sun rays on many archaeological artefacts.
Sometimes it can also include a rosette decoration in the middle. One of the most popular version of
this symbol is the 16 rayed Sun of Vergina, found on the larnax (coffin) which allegedly contained
the remains of King Phillip II. The Vergina Sun is claimed as a historical symbol by both the
Republic of Macedonia and Greece, which both also claim relation to the Ancient Macedonians.
However, Greece demands full exclusive right to the Ancient Macedonian heritage and doesnt want
to share it with anyone else. As a result, the two countries have a long term unresolved dispute.
In 1992, the newly independent Republic of Macedonia adopted a new flag which included the 16-
ray Vergina Sun (on a red backround), which led to protests from official Greece. Under Greek
pressure, in 1995 it was replaced with the current flag of the Republic of Macedonia, which
includes a different stylized form of a sun.
Left: flag of the emigrant ethnic Macedonian revolutionary society in St. Petersburg, Russia, 1914
feat. Alexander's horse Buchephalos, represented as an unicorn according to the old legend, and a
sun symbol in the bottom left angle; Right: Insurgent flag against the Ottoman rule, 1903 feat. a sun
symbol on the left.
The Coat of Arms initialy adopted for the Socialist Republic of Macedonia after WWII. Still in
official use in the Republic of Macedonia.
The main Greek rationale for the flag dispute was that the Sun of Vergina is allegedly a greek
symbol, and that its use by the Republic of Macedonia is an act of stealing of the ancient greek
heritage. Moreover, the Greek side emphasised the fact that the symbol was discovered on its
territory.
King Philip's larnax
However, Greece forgot to mention that her share of the whole Macedonian region was forcibly
annexed by her armies in the Balkan Wars in 1913. Prior to that, the territory has never belonged to
Greece.
Also, its very important to mention that later, this symbol was also discovered on many
archaeological artefacts found in the southern parts of the Republic of Macedonia, which
were too part of the Ancient Macedonian Kingdom- a fact deliberately ignored by Greece,
which continously repeats that: "There is only ONE Macedonia, and its in Greece".
Certified museum copies of archaeological artefacts featuring the Ancient Macedonian Sun/Star
symbol (known as the Vergina Sun), excavated in Ohrid, a city of a great historical and cultural
significance once belonging to the Ancient Macedonian Kingdom, situated on the Ohrid Lake in the
Republic of Macedonia. Shall we call the symbol the Sun of Ohrid from now on?
Another important, but dubious Greek claim is that the symbol was firstly discovered during the
excavations of the Ancient Macedonian Royal Tombs of Aigai, in the village of Vergina in Greek
Macedonia, by prof. Manolis Andronikos in 1977. Some Greeks may agree that the symbol may
have been known prior to that, but just as an artistic ornament without any historical significance.
According to them, only after the discovery of the Royal Tombs, the true nature of this symbol was
discovered-its an Ancient Macedonian royal emblem.
An entertaining twist in this story is that they dont know (or dont want to know) that the symbol
actually appeared publicly all around the globe decades before 1977. It was featured in its 8 ray
version on the shields of the Ancient Macedonian warriors in the 1956 epic film Alexander The
Great starring Richard Burton. Its an American movie, quite pro-Greek biased, so it cannot be
accused of advocating the Republic of Macedonia's point of view.
Screenshot: Richard Burton sporting the Vergina Sun in Alexander The Great, 21 years before prof.
Andronikos "discovered" it
How come the Greeks are not aware that this symbol was internationaly recognized as an Ancient
Macedonian royal or state emblem far before the prof. Andronikos' discovery in 1977? The symbol
that he "discovered" has been already used by the ethnic Macedonians for centuries, as we
explained above. For the Greeks, until 1977, this symbol was largely (or completely) unknown.
But anyway, Greece continues to claim an exclusive right to it. It even registered it in the World
Intellectual Property Organization and finally, in 1993 it placed it on the newly created flag of its
own Macedonian province, but on a blue backround.
• US State of Hawaii
Hold on, hold on! Did I just said the US STATE of Hawaii? How come that a federal
unit of a country which once fought for independence against the Brits is now using the
Union Jack?? Where are the Greeks now to protest the Hawaiian "stealing" of British
heritage? Hawaii is not a British colony or a protectorate or a dominion or an overseas
territory or whatever. Its part of the United States of America.
So why all these countries dont just sue eachother for "stealing" eachother's history and culture? (if
we follow the offical Greek "logical" way of thinking)
IMPORTANT NOTE: All those flags (with the exception of the Basque, the Texan and the
Hawaiian flags) are flags of internationaly recognized independent countries. Yet, these flags have
never been a cause of any international dispute. The flag of the Greek province of Macedonia has a
much lower importance than them because it is a flag of a a geographical and historical province
and not of an independent country. Moreover, the flag of Greek Macedonia has no historical
significance. It was adopted recently just as a retaliation against the Republic of Macedonia.
1. Contrary to that, all those nations listed above were fighting wars, conquering other
countries and achieveing sport successes under those flag symbols for centuries. For them
those symbols have a huge historical and national significance. Still, as you can see, they
have absolutely no problem to share those symbols with other nations, unlike Greece which
is jealously possesive over the Vergina Sun, although the symbol is most probably not Greek
at all. Under that symbol King Philip and his son Alexander were killing Athenian soldiers
and conquering and burning the greek city-states. What a paradox.
But anyway, Greece continues to make such a great fuss about it. The hysteria goes so far,
that sometimes the Greek nationalists even forget their real national flag: the well-known
one with the blue and white stripes and the cross in the upper left angle.
Instead, they give so much importance to a recently adopted flag of a geographical province:
Since the flag dispute with the Republic of Macedonia began, the Vergina Sun suddenly
started to appear everyewhere in Northern Greece: on governmental buildings and offices; at
celebrations and political meetings; on various documents, military insignia, tourist
souvenirs and even everyday products such as hotel soaps, sugar bags and bus tickets
(hopefuly not on condoms and toilet paper too, but everything's possible in a country where
unfortunatelly, the extreme nationalism is an everyday fact).
2.
100 Drachma coins (the former Greek currency later replaced by the euro)
So after all this, we have a full right to ask: How come all those countries are allowed to have
almost same flag designs only with minor differences, while at the same time, the Republic of
Macedonia was not allowed to keep its 16-ray sun symbol?
Wasn't the red backround sufficient enough to differentiate it from the Greek blue version?
Even if we decide to beleive in the official Greek claim that the modern ethnic Macedonians are not
descendants of the Ancient Macedonians, but Slavs, still, this sun symbol was found in Ohrid in
present-day Republic of Macedonia, so this country has every right to use it, in a same way that the
modern Arabic Egyptians have nothing incommon with the Ancient pharaos, but still they are
proudly promoting their country with the pyramids and the sphynx.
Greece should finally get rid of its blind ultra chauvinism once and for all. We need peace, stability
and cooperation in the Balkans.