Flag of Greece of the exact reasoning behind its official adoption in early 1822. It has been suggested by some Greek historians that the current flag derived from an older design, the virtually identical flag of the powerful Cretan Kallergis family. This flag was based on their coat of arms, whose pattern is supposed to be derived from the standards of their claimed ancestor, Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas (963–969 AD). This pattern (according to not easily verifiable descriptions) included nine stripes of alternating blue and white, as well as a cross, assumed to be placed on the upper left. Although the use
Flag of the Natalia Republic Rijksarchief in the Netherlands in 1953, shows a square flag. Flag of the Natalia Republic The flag of the Natalia Republic was the official flag of this short lived South African state, which existed from 1839 to 1843. Emigrant Boers ('voortrekkers') from the Cape Colony established an independent state in 1839, on territory conquered from the Zulus. They named it 'Natalia'. It is uncertain what flag – if any – they flew at first, but on 24 December 1839 they raised a new flag at Port Natal (now Durban. The same flag was raised in the capital, Pietermaritzburg, in January