Athens – On March 25, 2020, U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey R. Pyatt unveiled the #USGreece2021 logo that the U.S. government will use for all its programming in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Greece’s independence and the unbreakable bonds of friendship between our countries.
In his interview on Mega TV’s first episode of Αναγέννηση των Ελλήνων (Rebirth of the Greeks), conducted remotely in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambassador Pyatt said, “I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past few years in U.S.-Greece relations. … We’re now beginning to chart a really exciting agenda for the future, focused on areas like technology, areas like the collaboration between our defense and security forces in the strategically dynamic region of the Eastern Mediterranean, and focusing on the people-to-people ties, which in so many ways are the glue that holds this relationship together.” The full transcript of the interview here: https://gr.usembassy.gov/ambassador-geoffrey-pyatt-mega-tv-episode-1/ The video interview here: https://www.megatv.com/megagegonota/article.asp?catid=27369&subid=2&pubid=38563563
The 2021 U.S. Embassy logo aims to capture traits that bind our two countries together. Designers at the Athens-based graphic design firm “White” commented, “It glorifies the timeless flame of democracy, independence, and freedom, formed by common elements of the American and Greek flags. The flame celebrates passion, creativity, and continuity, traits that both countries share. The logo is rooted in mutual understanding, union, friendship, and pride. It illustrates the respectful and harmonious relationship between our countries, each playing a role in the other’s struggle for independence.”
For us, the logo is also a reminder that our two countries have been close partners since Greece’s independence, as enshrined in the 22nd stanza of Dionysios Solomos’ “Hymn to Liberty,” Greece’s national anthem. The United States has stood firmly beside Greece through the revolution, the Marshall Plan era, and the economic crisis, and we will continue to stand by Greece now during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the future.
The U.S. Embassy in Athens and the Consulate General in Thessaloniki are adhering to the Greek government’s social distancing guidelines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and have curtailed public engagements. We will maintain this stance alongside our Greek counterparts in government, business, civil society, education, and many other sectors, and we look forward to a healthy, shared future that will include commemorations of Greece’s bicentennial in 2021. As the Ambassador said in his interview with Mega TV, “We are in this together.”
