by
Nicholas G. Milissis
(continued)
After the Greek independence revolution of 1821 against the Ottoman Turks the first modern independent Greek nation was founded. The first Greek congress voted for a monarchy to be established in Greece. The young Bavarian Prince Otto was named king of Greece as Otto I. The first Royal arms of Greece were loosely derived from the amrs of Bavaria. When Otto was forced to abdicate, a short period of a governorship under Count Kapodistrias was followed by a vote for a return to Monarchy. the Danish Prince who became George I King of the Hellenes would be the founder of the dynasty that would rule Greece for a little over a hundred years.
During this last era leading into the modern times no official attempt , at least none that this writer knows of, was made to organize heraldry in Greece. Further, the Kings did not grant titles or arms. The royals and the state had coats of arms but there are no known grants or any type of heraldic college founded between 1864 and 1967 at which time King Constantine was deposed by the millitary coup.
In a region that has gone through so much turbulence and instabillity, successive wars and destruction it would be hard to preserve geneaological records and along with that Heraldry in an organized form. This is the case in Greece where official records, the few that were kept by whoever controlled the land at the time, were repeatedly destroyed by the next conqueror or invader. The last such destruction being that of the state registrar records by the invading Nazi forces during World War II.
However, through familial record keeping, manuscripts from other countries, and historical research many Greek family arms are still documented and are around to remind us of the persevearance and tenacity of the Greek people.
Hellenic Heraldry is thus an accurate reflection of Greek history itself. Whether its background was derived from crusading kinights, Byzantine nobles, Venetian counts or Genoese aristocrats Hellenic Heraldry is still distinctly Greek and even though neglected it can and should be preserved for the next generations.
PREVIOUS PAGE BACK TO THE HOME PAGE