The Rising Sun Flag is the military flag of Japan. The blockade was lifted in October 1995 when an agreement was reached to change the flag, modify the constitution and resolve the naming dispute through United Nations-sponsored negotiations. Greek objections also prevented the flag from being flown at the United Nations Headquarters building in New York. In July 1995, Greece lodged a request with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for exclusive copyright to the Vergina Sun. The flag, the new state’s constitution and its name all became the focus of a bitter dispute between the two countries, during which Greece imposed an economic blockade on the Republic from February 1994. It had also been adopted by many in the then Socialist Republic of Macedonia to symbolize historical connections between that country and ancient Macedon and had been paraded in demonstrations by ethnic Macedonians at home and abroad.
This ancient symbol was known as the Vergina Sun or Vergina Star, named after the Greek town where it had been discovered in archaeological excavations of the ancient Macedonian city of Aigai. The flag depicted a stylized yellow sun centered on a red field with eight main and eight secondary rays emanating from the sun, tapering to a point. On August 11, 1992, the newly-independent Republic of Macedonia adopted a new flag to replace the old Communist “red star” insignia.
