The original Macedonian flag motif was the Virginia Sun, the English Vergina Sun, which was the symbol of Greece in ancient Greek culture.
Virgin Sun
Similar to the Christian cross, the great satellite of the Jews, the Islamic Crescent. The symbol is named after the northern Greek town of Virginia.
In ancient Greek times, The Macedonian kings Philip II and Alexander the Great both came from the Ajid dynasty, and the Virgin Sun is the political symbol of this dynasty lineage. The Sun emits sixteen rays of light, twelve of which represent the twelve main gods of Olympus, and four of which represent the four fundamental elements of the universe, air, water, fire, and earth.
In the time of Alexander the Great, the Vergina Sun had been used as a symbol for Macedonia (Greece).
In addition to the modern Greek flag and the Eastern Roman Byzantine double-headed eagle flag, the Virgin Sun Flag is another important symbol that can represent Greek civilization, but also represents the traditional historical sense of the Macedonian region.
Flag of Greece
Byzantine double-headed eagle flag
Since the 1980s, it has become widely popular among Macedonian Greeks and has become the official symbol of the Greek Macedonian region. The flag of the Greek region of Macedonia depicts a Virgin Sun. When the newly independent Republic of Macedonia used the symbol on their flag in 1991, a controversy sparked, angering the Greek populace, who saw the symbol as an affront to Greek historical traditions. Although Macedonia officially denied that the flag had other purposes, it was strongly resisted by Greece, resulting in the use of the flag banned at the United Nations, the Olympic Games, and the Macedonian Embassy in the United States and Australia. In 1995, the dispute, brokered by former U.S. Secretary of State Vance, ended with a compromise between the two countries at the United Nations, which Macedonia erased from its flag.
Flag of the Macedonian region of Greece
The flag of the new Republic of Macedonia is rectangular in shape, with a length-to-width ratio of 2:1. The red flag, with a golden sun in the center, radiates eight rays of light outward. The sun radiates eight rays of light. The sun is the symbol of the Macedonian nation. The red earth and golden sun indicate that the Macedonian people are willing to sacrifice their blood and lives for liberation, for the sake of a free sky. The sun radiates eight rays of light in all directions, symbolizing that it has protected the Macedonians for generations.