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Greece: Burgees of yacht clubs

Last modified: 2002-12-14 by ivan sache
Keywords: yacht club | burgee | piraeus | star: 8 points (yellow) | palaion faliron | chevron (white) | thessaloniki | anchor: fouled (yellow) | cross (blue) | kalamaki | mykonos |
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Yacht Club Piraeus

[Burgee of YC Piraeus]by Ivan Sache

The burgee is a very dark blue, 3:5 flag with a yellow device made of a eigth-pointed star with the northern, western, southern, and eastern points longer than the four other ones and a point added to the northern branch.

Source: YCP website.

The industrial city of Piraeus (c. 200,000 inhabitants) is close to Athens. During the Medic wars (against the Persians, Vth century BP), Piraeus became the main port of Athens, to which it was linked by the so-called 'long walls'. Piraeus is still the main port of Athens, and most ferries serving the Greek islands are stationed there.
Piraeus is the seat of the sport-club Olympiakos (football and basket-ball, inter alia).

Piraeus is well-known in French for the expression prendre Le Pirée pour un homme (litterally, to take Piraeus for a human being). In La Fontaine's fable Le Singe et le Dauphin ("The Monkey and the Dolphin"), the Monkey attempted to impress the Dolphin by speaking of one of his famous friends named ... Le Pirée. Therefore, prendre le Pirée pour un homme means to be of very deep ignorance.

The pun was reused by Goscinny in Astérix to the Olympic Games, as follows:

  • Panoramix (rowing on the boat who carry the Gauls to Greece): "Guys! We'll land tomorrow! Piraeus is waiting for us!"
  • Panoramix again: "Weird. I had expected someone to make a comment."
  • Obélix: Panoramix...
  • Panormaix: Yes?
  • Obélix (out of the image): Who is Piraeus?
  • Panoramix: Ah well!

The same kind of pun is reused later with Acropolis (Obélix: "Who's that Cropolis?")

Ivan Sache, 27 July 2001

Nautical Club of Palaion Faliron

[NC Palaion Faliron]by Ivan Sache

Palaios Faliron is located south of Athens and east of Piraeus, on a bay called 'Ormos Falirou'. Palaios Faliron is located on the eastern part of the bay whereas Neon Faliron is located on the western part of the bay. I guess that Palaios and Neon stand for Old and New, respectively.

Nautical Club of Palaion Faliron has a dark blue burgee with a white chevron placed along the hoist.

Source: NCPF website

Ivan Sache, 27 January 2002

Nautical Club of Thessaloniki

[NC Thessaloniki]by Ivan Sache

Thessaloniki is the capital city of the Greek Macedonia, with c. 800,000 inhabitants (including the outskirts). The city is located on the gulf of Thessaloniki, which opens on the Aegean Sea.

Between 1204 and 1224, Thessaloniki was the capital city of a Latin kingdom. From 1430 to 1913, the city was under Ottoman domination. During the First World War, Thessaloniki hosted the headquarters of the Eastern Allied Forces. The Jewish community of Thessaloniki, one of the most important in Europe, was exterminated by the Nazis during the Second World War.

The NC Thessaloniki burgee is dark blue with a light blue Scandinavian cross. In the middle of the cross is a dark blue disc bearing a yellow fouled anchor surrounded by the Greek capital letters nu (N), omega (O) and thêta (Q ). This is probably the acronym of the yacht club name. All the elements of the burgee are fimbriated in yellow.

Source: NCT website

Ivan Sache, 27 January 2002

Nautical Club of Kalamaki

[NC Kalamaki]by Ivan Sache

Kalamaki is located in the south-eastern outskirts of Athens, close to the international airport.

The burgee of the Nautical Club of Kalamaki (NOK) has an unusual shape, being not exactly triangular but ending with a roundish point. It has five horizontal blue-white-blue-white-blue stripes merging in a single blue field near the hoist and a white disk with NOK above 1947 in red letters.

Source: NOK website

Ivan Sache, 17 July 2002

Mykonos Yacht Club

[Mykonos YC]by Ivan Sache

MYC was founded on 30 July 2002 by the Kestrel Trading Corporation, a company based in Mauritius. The club is located at Ornos Bay (37° 25' 25" N / 25° 19' 33" E) on the island of Mykonos (Cyclades archipelago).

The burgee of MYC is red with a blue triangle placing along the hoist but not reaching the top and the bottom of the flag, charged with MYK in white. MYK represents the international letters for Mykonos.

Source: MYC website

Ivan Sache, 1 September 2002