(, ; 'Freedom or Death') is the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It originated in the Greek songs of resistance that were powerful motivating factors for independence. It was adopted in 1814 by the , a secret organization formed specifically for the overthrow of Ottoman rule.

Overview

The motto arose during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

in the 1820s, where it was a war cry for the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

who rebelled against Ottoman rule. It was adopted after the

and is still in use today. One explanation for the 9 stripes on the

Greek flag The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the Blue-and-White (, ) or the Cyan-and-White (, ), is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has 5 equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There ...

is that they represent the nine syllables of the motto, five blue stripes for the syllables and four white stripes for . The motto symbolized and still symbolizes the resolve of the people of Greece against tyranny and oppression. Part of the emblem of the

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria () or Society of Friends () was a secret political and revolutionary organization founded in 1814 in Odesa, Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule in Ottoman Greece, Greece and establish an Independenc ...

were two flags with the letters and ; These represent , 'Either Freedom, or Death'. This is also the motto of the 4th Infantry Division of the

Greek Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed F ...

.Greek Army website
/ref> SymboloFilikisEtairias

Cultural references

Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis (; ; 2 March (Old Style and New Style dates, OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greeks, Greek writer, journalist, politician, poet and philosopher. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominate ...

' novel '' Captain Michalis'' was subtitled ''Freedom or Death'', which became its title in the United States, Germany, France, and other countries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eleutheria I Thanatos 1810s quotations 1814 introductions National mottos Greek political phrases Liberty symbols National symbols of Greece

Overview

Cultural references

See also

References