This one was captured with the warship, San Ildefonso, 74 guns, by HMS Defence at Trafalgar 1805. It was hung in the crossing of St Paul's Cathedral during Nelson's funeral service on 9 January 1806 and was presented to Greenwich Hospital for display in the former Royal Naval Museum in the Royal Naval College at Greenwich by the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's in 1907.
What is interesting here is the size, the flag is 10.20m x 14.60m, which is not unusual. The ensigns of a ship were huge, so they could be seen from far away on the sea. The bigger the ship, the bigger the flags.
When we picture the landscape of Greece, images of Cycladic islands in the heart of the Aegean, with their characteristic whitewashed architecture, blue shutters and taverna chairs, best encapsulate the scene.
Indeed, blue and white are the colors we most associate with Greece; cloudless blue skies, the white crests of waves on the horizon, and, of course, the myriad shades of blue sea. It’s fitting, therefore, that blue and white feature on the universal symbol of Greek national identity – the flag.
The national flag of Greece, instantly recognizable by its blue and white, cross-and-stripe pattern, was officially adopted by the Greek state in December 1978. Its origins, however, can be traced back 200 years to the First National Assembly of December 1821-January 1822, less than a year after the start of the Greek Revolution.
Popularly referred to as the “blue and white” (Γαλανόλευκη), the Greek flag is a potent mix of symbolism. A popular tradition states that the nine horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white represent the syllables of the phrase “Freedom or Death” (Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος), a war cry against Ottoman rule. Another theory holds the stripes symbolize the nine Muses, ancient Greek goddesses of literature, poetry, science and the arts.
The flag likely dates to the War of 1812. Its stripes, like those of the Star Spangled Banner, are hand sewn with waxed linen thread to protect against rot when exposed to moisture at sea.
An 19-star United States Ensign from the USS Constitution (c) Collection of H. Richard Dietrich, Jr.
It was officially used from December 1816 to December 1817. This flag is one of the earliest authorized U.S. Navy ensigns to survive and dates prior to the 3rd Flag Act of 1818. It is comprised of wool bunting with 19 appliqued cotton stars and nine full and two fragmentary wool bunting stripes remaining, hand sewn throughout.
