History of Sicily politics in Greece itself, leading Athens, for example, to mount the disastrous Sicilian Expedition in 415 BC during the Peloponnesian War. In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena threw Mount Aitna onto the island of Sicily and upon either the gigante Enceladus or Typhon during the giants' war against the gods. The Greeks came into conflict with the Punic trading communities, by now effectively protectorates of Carthage, with its capital on the African mainland not far from the southwest corner of the island. Palermo was a Carthaginian city, founded in the 8th century BC, named Zis or Sis ("Panormos" to the
Flag of Sicily as the "trinacria", which is also an ancient name of Sicily. The name was also revived and used during the Aragonese period of the Kingdom of Sicily immediately after the Sicilian Vespers (1282) which ended Angevin rule. During the period of Muslim rule under Emirate of Sicily (831–1072), the island used a pure green flag, similar to the former national flag of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi. Flag of Sicily The flag of Sicily (; ) was first adopted in 1282, after the successful Sicilian Vespers revolt against the king Charles I of Sicily. This flag bears a resemblance to the