Wednesday afternoon. At Nikoludi Passage, in the bustling center of Athens, flags fly beside and around the sign. “Ilias Kokkonis”. Inside the store, traffic is quiet, except for the order phones, which keep ringing. A customer comes and asks for a Greek, American and EU flag, a well-known hotel in the city, his name is enough for the employees to bring from the warehouse in the right size.

In this corner full of banners, goblets and many perfectly folded Greek – but not only – flags, there is not much evidence that the second pre-election period of 2023 has just begun. Flags of Kocconi have written history (also) in the political flag.

The business that started 1897 Ilyas Kokkonis in Smyrna and today it has a factory (all the flags you will find on its shelves are made there) and three shops (Athens, Chalandri, Acharnai), in its more than a century of life, it has survived cataclysms, world wars, dictatorships and post-colonialism.

We are welcomed in our store Joanna Cusi. He works here and there 50 years -First in the store that was in the Arsakei Gallery, and for the last four years in the Nikoloudi Gallery, where the main Kokkoni store is now located.

According to rough estimates, during these five decades, an experienced worker has lived 19 nationwide elections behind the store counter, heading for twenty.

“We have work for all parties”, she tells me smiling. It is no exaggeration to say that every voter, wherever he came from, and every combination of parties that existed in the Third Hellenic Republic, passed there to make or take away their flag.

Nothing compares naturally to political pulse of the 80s, when bipartisanship is firmly entrenched as the highest political possibility that has only renewed its players in the last decade. It was a time of polarization and mass gatherings, reminiscent of huge fan gatherings that “strewn” the Constitution with all the necessary accessories: duduks, scarves, balloons, banners and, of course, flags.

As Ms. Coussy told me, not only were the parties buying flags back then, but voters flocked to the store to get their own, small or large, plastic or fabric flag, which they proudly waved in speeches. “At that time we were so busy that when the flags came from the factory, the voters stood in line and took them straight from the van, we didn’t have time to put them in the store.” he remembers.

For those whose campaign memories span only a few contests, these images seem almost unimaginable. Then they got out of Kokkonis’ cars. up to twenty thousand flags in the elections, this was not the only period when party flags were sold, as people bought them all year round. In the same time, Greek flag he remained firmly in Cocconi’s bestsellers even in the context of political gatherings, as many chose him for them.

As political passions gradually took a trajectory of decline, or at least changed their form and mode of expression, therefore, the party flag became less in demand. Already in the 90s, as Ioanna Coussi confirms, there were no such “frantic” scenes, not to mention the fact that people did not buy his political “banners”.

“It’s different now. People were more passionate then, now it’s okay, they know what they’re going to vote for, but it’s not the same.” the employee tells me, approaching the present, that yes, the flags continue to go right and left in speeches, but having decreased, in proportion to the size of the gatherings.

I demand to know which party has sold the most flags in all these decades. “Completely by experience and without numbers, h New Democracy”.Mrs Cussy answers me.

Before I leave, I ask the employee if there are any more party flags in the warehouse. He goes to see. He turns to tell me that April 21st is only a few days away, but gets a reflexive nod. “And yet, do you believe that, unfortunately, small children come and take them away?” it tells me. Sometimes they bring to life the wrong things from the past, I think as I walk through the gallery.