The flag of Greece has nine horizontal stripes of blue and white, alternating, with blue on the top and bottom. In the canton is a white cross on a blue background. The nine stripes of the Greek flag represent the syllables in the Greek saying, “Freedom or Death” (Eleftheria i thanatos), and the nine letters in the Greek word for “freedom” (Eleftheria). Another theory for the significance of the nine stripes is the traditional nine Greek Muses.