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125-557: The name "Vergina Sun" became widely used after the archaeological excavations in and around the small town of Vergina , in northern Greece , during the late 1970s. In older references, the name "Argead Star" or "Star of the Argeadai" is used for the Sun as the possible royal symbol of the Argead dynasty of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia . There it was depicted on a golden larnax found in

250-441: A British overseas territory are accorded British Overseas Territories citizenship and may hold passports issued by the governments of their respective territory. All overseas territory citizens are also now eligible for full British citizenship. Each territory maintains its own criteria for determining whom it grants right of abode. Consequently, individuals holding BOTC passports are not necessarily entitled to enter or reside in

375-415: A United Kingdom passport , United States Passport , New Zealand Passport (after 30 November 2015) or Australian passport . Passport booklets from almost all countries around the world display the national coat of arms of the issuing country on the front cover. The United Nations keeps a record of national coats of arms, but displaying a coat of arms is not an internationally recognised requirement for

500-547: A 4th-century BC royal tomb belonging to either Philip II or Philip III of Macedon, the father and half-brother of Alexander the Great , respectively. Tentatively interpreted as the historical royal symbol of ancient Macedonia, rather than just a generic decorative element in ancient Greek art , the Vergina Sun came into popular use among Macedonian Greeks since the 1980s, and became commonly used as an official emblem in

625-629: A Serbian passport. However, these passports are not issued directly by the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs but by the Serbian Coordination Directorate for Kosovo and Metohija instead. These particular passports do not allow the holder to enter the Schengen Area without a visa. As of August 2023, Serbian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 138 countries and territories, ranking

750-468: A blue background became commonly used as an official emblem of the three administrative regions, the prefectures and the municipalities of Greek Macedonia. It was used in official contexts on the reverse of the Greek 100 drachmas coin of 1990–2001, The symbol is placed on the bottom left corner of the Greek driving license, and on Greek passports , it forms the watermark image across pages 22 and 23. It

875-625: A conference on passports, the Paris Conference on Passports & Customs Formalities and Through Tickets . Passport guidelines and a general booklet design resulted from the conference, which was followed up by conferences in 1926 and 1927. The League of Nations issued Nansen passports to stateless refugees from 1922 to 1938. While the United Nations held a travel conference in 1963, no passport guidelines resulted from it. Passport standardization came about in 1980, under

1000-461: A decorative element in ancient Greek art in general and that it cannot be said to represent either a "royal" or "national" emblem of Macedon exclusively. The symbol was introduced in Greece as popular imagery from the mid-1980s, and after 1991, increasingly so in many new contexts in Greece. The Vergina Sun was widely adopted by Greek Macedonians as a symbol of Greek Macedonia . The Vergina Sun on

1125-622: A diplomatic or consular mission. Pursuant to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations , Vienna Convention on Consular Relations , and the immunity afforded to officials of a foreign state under customary international law , diplomats and other individuals travelling on government business are entitled to reduced scrutiny at border checkpoints when travelling overseas. Consequently, such individuals are typically issued special passports indicating their status. These passports come in three distinct varieties: Unlike most countries,

1250-656: A distinction. Notably, while Singapore does permit visa free entry to all categories of British passport holders, it reduces length of stay for British nationals without right of abode in the United Kingdom, but does not distinguish between ROC passport holders with and without household registration. Until 31 January 2021, holders of British National (Overseas) passports were able to use their UK passports for immigration clearance in Hong Kong and to seek consular protection from overseas Chinese diplomatic missions . This

1375-579: A few days, someone whose passport expires abroad, or someone who urgently needs to travel abroad who does not have a passport with sufficient validity. These passports are intended for very short durations, e.g. to allow immediate one-way travel back to the home country. Laissez-passer are also used for this purpose. Uniquely, the United Kingdom issues emergency passports to citizens of certain Commonwealth states who lose their passports in non-Commonwealth countries where their home state does not maintain

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1500-432: A golden oak wreath. There were also exquisite silver utensils and weaponry indicating royal status. A narrow frieze with a chariot race by a great painter decorated the walls of the tomb. The remains of a wooden mortuary couch adorned with gold and ivory is notable for an exquisite representation of Dionysos with a flute-player and a satyr. Tomb IV, discovered in 1980, had an impressive entrance with four Doric columns though

1625-505: A golden-purple cloth with a golden diadem decorated with flowers and enamel, indicating a queen (probably Philip's Thracian wife, Meda ) who by tradition sacrificed herself at the funeral. Also included was another burial bed partially destroyed by the fire and on it a golden wreath representing leaves and flowers of myrtle . Above the Doric order entrance of the tomb is a magnificent wall painting measuring 5.6 metres (18 ft) representing

1750-561: A hunting scene, believed to be the work of the celebrated Philoxenos of Eretria , and thought to show Philip and Alexander. Next to him in Tomb I a distinctive member of his family (probably Nicesipolis , another of his queens), was buried just a few years before in a cist grave, found unfortunately plundered. The only wall painting in the tomb pictures the Abduction of Persephone by the God of

1875-405: A legal right to be issued a passport; third, each country's government, in exercising its executive discretion, has complete and unfettered discretion to refuse to issue or to revoke a passport; and fourth, that the latter discretion is not subject to judicial review. However, legal scholars including A.J. Arkelian have argued that evolutions in both the constitutional law of democratic countries and

2000-466: A minimum of six months beyond the planned date of departure, as well as having at least two to four blank pages. It is recommended that a passport be valid for at least six months from the departure date as many airlines deny boarding to passengers whose passport has a shorter expiry date, even if the destination country does not have such a requirement for incoming visitors. There is an increasing trend for adult passports to be valid for ten years, such as

2125-454: A passport in that capacity. Countries with conscription or national service requirements may impose restrictions on passport applicants who have not yet completed their military obligations. For example, in Finland , male citizens aged 18–30 years must prove that they have completed, or are exempt from, their obligatory military service to be granted an unrestricted passport ; otherwise

2250-407: A passport is issued valid only until the end of their 28th year, to ensure that they return to carry out military service. Other countries with obligatory military service, such as South Korea and Syria , have similar requirements, e.g. South Korean passport and Syrian passport . Passports have a limited validity, usually between 5 and 10 years. Many countries require passports to be valid for

2375-680: A passport varies by jurisdiction, although citizenship is a common prerequisite. However, a passport may be issued to individuals who do not have the status or full rights of citizenship, such as American or British nationals . Likewise, certain classes of individuals, such as diplomats and government officials, may be issued special passports that provide certain rights and privileges, such as immunity from arrest or prosecution . While passports are typically issued by national governments, certain subnational entities are authorised to issue passports to citizens residing within their borders. Additionally, other types of official documents may serve

2500-405: A passport. There are several groups of countries that have, by mutual agreement, adopted common designs for their passports: Passports sometimes contain a message, usually near the front, requesting that the passport's bearer be allowed to pass freely, and further requesting that, in the event of need, the bearer be granted assistance. The message is sometimes made in the name of the government or

2625-669: A person could enter or leave the countryside. Passports were an important part of the Chinese bureaucracy as early as the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD), if not in the Qin dynasty . They required such details as age, height, and bodily features. These passports ( 傳 ; zhuan ) determined a person's ability to move throughout imperial counties and through points of control. Even children needed passports, but those of one year or less who were in their mother's care may not have needed them. In

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2750-505: A person whose only connection to the United States is through birth in an outlying possession (which is defined in 8 U.S.C.   § 1101 as American Samoa and Swains Island , the latter of which is administered as part of American Samoa), or through descent from a person so born, acquires U.S. nationality but not the citizenship. This was formerly the case in a few other current or former U.S. overseas possessions , i.e.

2875-456: A result of the legislation granting independence to those former British colonies. British Protected Person passports are issued to otherwise stateless people connected to a former British protectorate . British subject passports are issued to otherwise stateless individuals connected to British India or to certain categories of Irish citizens (though, in the latter case, they do convey right of abode). Additionally, individuals connected to

3000-526: A significant development in European civilization, at the transition from classical city-state to the imperial structure of the Hellenistic and Roman periods". The area within 7 km of the later city was occupied by villages forming an important population centre by 1000BC. This has been shown by archaeology since 1995. Aigai followed a similar development as other ancient Greek cities. In

3125-399: A similar role to passports but are subject to different eligibility requirements, purposes, or restrictions. Etymological sources show that the term "passport" may derive from a document required by some medieval Italian states in order for an individual to pass through the physical harbor (Italian passa porto , "to pass the harbor") or gate (Italian passa porte , "to pass the gates") of

3250-783: A sovereign territory issue documents described as passports, most notably Iroquois League , the Aboriginal Provisional Government in Australia and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta . Such documents are not necessarily accepted for entry into a country. Each country sets its own conditions for the issue of passports. Under the law of most countries, passports are government property, and may be limited or revoked at any time, usually on specified grounds, and possibly subject to judicial review. In many countries, surrender of one's passport

3375-553: A variety of other types of passports by governments in specific circumstances. While individuals are typically only permitted to hold one passport, certain governments permit citizens to hold more than one ordinary passport. Individuals may also simultaneously hold an ordinary passport and an official or diplomatic passport. Emergency passports (also called temporary passports) are issued to persons with urgent need to travel who do not have passports, e.g. someone abroad whose passport has been lost or stolen who needs to travel home within

3500-525: A walled city or jurisdiction. Such documents were issued by local authorities to foreign travellers—as opposed to local citizens, as is the modern practice—and generally contained a list of towns and cities the document holder was permitted to enter or pass through. On the whole, documents were not required for travel to seaports, which were considered open trading points , but documents were required to pass harbor controls and travel inland from seaports. The transition from private to state control over movement

3625-606: Is Greek and has been stolen." Nationalists on both sides subsequently associated the symbol with the (much later) Star of Bethlehem and have argued that their respective communities have used the symbol for sacred purposes before the Vergina discovery. Speaking on the BBC World Service 's The World Today programme, archaeologist Bajana Mojsov from the Republic of Macedonia said that "the symbolic weight attached to

3750-699: Is a Greek professional football club based in Neapoli , on ASF ALEXANDRIAS in Imathia , on Makedonikos Foufas F.C. in Kozani , on MAS VERGINA , on Megas Alexandros BC in Leptokarya and on VERGINA BC in Kalamaria . A seven-pointed sun is the logo of Thessaloniki-based political party EPOS . A sixteen-pointed sun is the logo of Athens-based political party Patriotic Union ( Greek : Πατριωτική Ένωση ). It

3875-426: Is a condition of granting bail in lieu of imprisonment for a pending criminal trial due to the risk of the person leaving the country. When passport holders apply for a new passport (commonly, due to expiration of the previous passport, insufficient validity for entry to some countries or lack of blank pages), they may be required to surrender the old passport for invalidation. In some circumstances an expired passport

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4000-619: Is a small town in Northern Greece , part of Veria municipality in Imathia , Central Macedonia . Vergina was established in 1922 in the aftermath of the population exchanges after the Treaty of Lausanne and was a separate municipality until 2011, when it was merged with Veroia under the Kallikratis Plan . Vergina is best known as the site of ancient Aigai ( Ancient Greek : Αἰγαί , Aigaí , Latinized : Aegae ),

4125-675: Is also used by organisations of the Greek Macedonian diaspora , such as the Pan-Macedonian Association, as well as by numerous commercial enterprises and in Greek Macedonian demonstrations . In 2023, it was reported that the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece ruled that a political party may not use the symbol as a party emblem. In North Macedonia, the municipality of Makedonska Kamenica still displays it on its municipal flag. A similar choice

4250-579: Is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid and protection, and obtain consular assistance from their government. In addition to facilitating travel, passports are a key mechanism for border security and regulating migration ; they may also serve as official identification for various domestic purposes. State-issued travel documents have existed in some form since antiquity;

4375-713: Is found in a 1414 Act of Parliament . In 1540, granting travel documents in England became a role of the Privy Council of England , and it was around this time that the term "passport" was used. In 1794, issuing British passports became the job of the Office of the Secretary of State . In the Holy Roman Empire , the 1548 Imperial Diet of Augsburg required the public to hold imperial documents for travel, at

4500-493: Is heavily damaged and may have contained valuable treasures. It was built in the 4th century BC and may have belonged to Antigonus II Gonatas . The great tumulus was constructed at the beginning of the third century BC (by Antigonos Gonatas) perhaps over smaller individual tumuli to protect the royal tombs from further pillaging after marauding Galati had looted and destroyed the cemetery. The hill material contained many earlier funeral stele. The most important building discovered

4625-427: Is identified as that of Eurydice , mother of Philip II. The so-called "Ionic Tomb" or "Rhomaios's Tomb", named after its excavator, Konstantinos Rhomaios, is an elegant Macedonian tomb with an Ionic facade consisting of four engaged columns crowned by a painted floral frieze, now no longer visible because of weathering. It contained a marble throne with armrests supported by sphinxes. Passport A passport

4750-459: Is not associated with right of abode in any territory. BN(O)s who do not possess Chinese (or any other) nationality are required to use a Document of Identity for Visa Purposes for travel. This restriction disproportionally affects ease of travel for permanent residents of Indian, Pakistani, and Nepali ethnicity , who were not granted Chinese nationality in 1997. As an additional consequence, Hongkongers seeking early pre-retirement withdrawals from

4875-637: Is not required to be surrendered or invalidated (for example, if it contains an unexpired visa). Requirements for passport applicants vary significantly from country to country, with some states imposing stricter measures than others. For example, Pakistan requires applicants to be interviewed before a Pakistani passport will be granted. When applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. In contrast, individuals holding British National (Overseas) status are legally entitled to hold

5000-575: Is subject to immigration controls when clearing ROC border controls, does not have automatic residence rights, and cannot vote in Taiwanese elections . However, they are exempt from conscription . Most individuals with this status are children born overseas to ROC citizens who do hold household registration. Additionally, because the ROC observes the principle of jus sanguinis , members of the overseas Chinese community are also regarded as citizens. During

5125-547: Is the emblem of the 3rd Greek Squadron of Control and Warning Station, of Greek Units for the Reinstatement of Order , the Greek First Army , the 193 Squadron of Multiple Missile Launchers and the 34th Mechanized Infantry Brigade. In February 1993 the Greek parliament passed a bill designating the Vergina Sun as an official Greek national symbol. In July 1995, Greece lodged a claim for trademark protection of

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5250-485: Is the location where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king in 336 BC. The Palace of Aigai reopened to the public in January 2024 after an extensive 16 year restoration. The cemetery of the tumuli extends for over 3 km (1.9 mi) and contains over 500 grave-mounds of significant wealth, some dating as early as the 11th century BC. To the north-west of the ancient city is the important group of tombs from

5375-544: Is the monumental palace. Located on a plateau directly below the acropolis, this building of two or perhaps three stories is centred on a large open courtyard flanked by Doric colonnades. On the north side was a large gallery with a view of the stage of the neighbouring theatre and the whole Macedonian plain. The palace was sumptuously decorated, with mosaic floors, painted plastered walls, and fine relief tiles. The masonry and architectural members were covered with high-quality marble stucco. Excavations have dated its construction to

5500-408: The Argead dynasty was an ancient Greek royal house led by Perdiccas I who fled from Argos in about 650 BC. Aigai is the name of several ancient Greek cities (see Aegean Sea#Etymology ). Their name is often derived from the name of a legendary founder, Aegeus . In the case of this city, it is also etymologized as "city of goats" (from αἴξ, aíks , "goat") by Diodorus Siculus , who reports it

5625-547: The Cold War , both the ROC and PRC governments actively sought the support of overseas Chinese communities in their attempts to secure the position as the legitimate sole government of China. The ROC also encouraged overseas Chinese businessmen to settle in Taiwan to facilitate economic development and regulations concerning evidence of ROC nationality by descent were particularly lax during the period, allowing many overseas Chinese

5750-613: The Danish Realm have a common nationality. Denmark proper is a member of the European Union , but Greenland and Faroe Islands are not. Danish citizens residing in Greenland or Faroe Islands can choose between holding a Danish EU passport and a Greenlandic or Faroese non-EU Danish passport. As of 21 September 2022, Danish citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 188 countries and territories, thus ranking

5875-460: The Greek region of Macedonia , and by other Greek state entities during the 1990s. The Vergina Sun symbol was the subject in a controversy in the first half of 1990s between Greece and the newly independent Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia ), which adopted it as a symbol of Macedonian nationalism and depicted it on its national flag . Eventually, in 1995 and as a result of this dispute ,

6000-900: The Mandatory Provident Fund pension scheme may not use BN(O) passports for identity verification. Similarly, non-citizens in Latvia and in Estonia are individuals, primarily of Russian or Ukrainian ethnicity, who are not citizens of Latvia or Estonia but whose families have resided in the area since the Soviet era, and thus have the right to a special non-citizen passport issued by the government as well as some other specific rights. Approximately two thirds of them are ethnic Russians , followed by ethnic Belarusians, ethnic Ukrainians, ethnic Poles and ethnic Lithuanians. This form of legal discrimination has been labelled as xenophobic by

6125-533: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China launched a trial issuance of e-passports for individuals conducting public affairs work overseas on behalf of the Chinese government. The face, fingerprints, and other biometric features of the passport holder is digitized and stored in pre-installed contactless smart chip , along with "the passport owner's name, sex and personal photo as well as

6250-690: The Panama Canal Zone and Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands . The passport issued to non-citizen nationals contains the endorsement code 9 which states: "THE BEARER IS A UNITED STATES NATIONAL AND NOT A UNITED STATES CITIZEN." on the annotations page. Non-citizen nationals may reside and work in the United States without restrictions, and may apply for citizenship under the same rules as resident aliens. Like resident aliens, they are not presently allowed by any U.S. state to vote in federal or state elections . Several entities without

6375-629: The Prespa Agreement , which stipulates the removal of the Vergina Sun from public use across the latter's territory. In a session held on early July 2019, the government of North Macedonia announced the complete removal of the Vergina Sun from all public areas, institutions and monuments in the country, with the deadline for its removal being set to 12 August 2019, in line with the Prespa Agreement. Vergina Vergina ( Greek : Βεργίνα , Vergína [verˈʝina] )

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6500-638: The UN Special Rapporteur . Per Russian visa policy , holders of the Estonian alien's passport or the Latvian non-citizen passport are entitled to visa free entry to Russia, in contrast to Estonian and Latvian citizens who must obtain an electronic visa. The People's Republic of China (PRC) authorises its Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau to issue passports to their permanent residents with Chinese nationality under

6625-475: The " one country, two systems " arrangement. Visa policies imposed by foreign authorities on Hong Kong and Macau permanent residents holding such passports are different from those holding ordinary passports of the People's Republic of China. A Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport (HKSAR passport) and Macau Special Administrative Region passport (MSAR passport) gain visa-free access to many more countries than ordinary PRC passports . On 1 July 2011,

6750-613: The 6th and 5th centuries BC belonging to members of the Macedonian dynasty and their courts. The Cluster of the Queens includes cist and pit tombs dating to the Greco-Persian Wars era, two of which probably belong to the mother and spouse of Alexander I: the all golden "Lady of Aigai" and her female relative, in whose funeral at least twenty-six small terracotta statues. One from around 340 BC with an imposing marble throne

6875-579: The 7th century BC, the Temenids ' dominance led to the Macedonians expanding and subduing local populations until the end of the 6th century BC, and establishing the dynasty at Aigai. Ancient sources give conflicting accounts of the origins of the Argead dynasty . Alexander I is the first truly historic figure and, based on the line of succession, the beginnings of the Macedonian dynasty have been traditionally dated to 750 BC. Herodotus says that

7000-705: The Ber Kaza of the Ottoman Empire. Several inhabitants of the two villages took part in the Greek uprising of 1821. Alexander Sinve (Les Grecs de l'Empire Ottoman. Etude Statistique et Ethnographique) wrote in 1878 that 120 Greeks lived in Barbas. According to the statistics of Vasil Kanchov ("Macedonia. Ethnography and Statistics"), in 1900, 60 Greek Christians lived in Kutlesh and 50 in Barbes. The town of Vergina

7125-1040: The Danish passport fifth in the world (tied with the passports of Austria , the Netherlands , and Sweden ) according to the Henley Passport Index . According to the World Tourism Organization 2016 report, the Danish passport is first in the world (tied with Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Singapore, and the United Kingdom) in terms of travel freedom, with the mobility index of 160 (out of 215 with no visa weighted by 1, visa on arrival weighted by 0.7, eVisa by 0.5 and traditional visa weighted by 0). Under Serbian law, people born or otherwise legally settled in Kosovo are considered Serbian nationals and as such they are entitled to

7250-497: The Great's half-brother, while tomb III contained Alexander IV , Alexander the Great's son. Tomb I had been looted; Tombs II and III were intact and contained an array of burial goods. The ancient town was also the site of an extensive royal palace. The archaeological museum of Vergina was built to house all the artifacts found at the site and is one of the most important museums in Greece. Aigai has been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status as "an exceptional testimony to

7375-524: The Greeks described it as such in correspondence with Vance. The Liberal Party (LP) of the Republic of Macedonia, in November 2013, via its president Ivon Velickovski, proposed a draft law to ban the use of the Vergina Sun for civil purposes within the Republic of Macedonia, as "a positive step that will result in the promotion of good neighborly relations between Macedonia and Greece". The draft law required

7500-617: The Macedonian consul in Toronto, Canada, Jovica Palashevski, sparked a diplomatic incident between the Republic of Macedonia and Greece, when he delivered a speech against the backdrop of an irredentist map of Greater Macedonia and a red Vergina Sun flag. After strong Greek protests, the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Macedonia condemned the incident and recalled its diplomat back to Skopje for consultations. Toni Deskoski, Macedonian professor of International Law and member of

7625-462: The Serbian passport 38th overall in terms of travel freedom according to the Henley Passport Index . Serbian passport is one of the 5 passports with the most improved rating globally since 2006 in terms of number of countries that its holders may visit without a visa. Although all U.S. citizens are also U.S. nationals, the reverse is not true. As specified in 8 U.S.C.   § 1408 ,

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7750-591: The Sun god ( Helios ), whose role as a patron deity of the Argead dynasty might be implied by a story about Perdiccas I of Macedon narrated by Herodotus (8.137). In the early 1980s, following the discovery of the larnax, there was some debate as to whether the symbol should be considered the "royal emblem" of the Argeads specifically. Αs Eugene Borza (1982) pointed out, the symbol was widely used in Hellenistic-era art, and Adams (1983) emphasized its use as

7875-530: The Underworld, the silent Demeter and the three unprejudiced Fates with Hermes, the Guide of Souls, leading the way, and a scared nymph witnessing the horrifying event. This is a unique example of ancient painting, believed to be the work of the famous painter Nicomachus of Thebes , as well as one of the few surviving depictions of the ancient mystic views of afterlife. In 1978 Tomb III was discovered, also near

8000-399: The United Kingdom and the Republic of China issue various categories of passports to individuals without the right of abode in their territory. In the United Kingdom's case, these passports are typically issued to individuals connected with a former British colony while, in the ROC's case, these passports are the result of the legal distinction between ROC nationals with and without residence in

8125-508: The Vergina Star was archaeologically absurd – but politically inevitable," arguing: The star of Vergina applies to the 3rd century BC northern Greece – a very different situation, not related to the 21st century AD. I think it's modern politics, and we're witnessing the use of an archaeological symbol for history that it's really not related to. At the same time, Demetrius Floudas, Senior Associate at Hughes Hall, Cambridge , and one of

8250-654: The Vergina Sun as an official state emblem under Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In North Macedonia , the symbol is known as Sun of Kutleš ( Macedonian : Сонце од Кутлеш ). In 1992, Todor Petrov proposed the Vergina Sun as the national symbol of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia). The symbol

8375-433: The agency of the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science responsible for administering the intellectual property rights in Australia , denied the World Macedonian Congress the right of registering and using the Vergina Sun on its trademark, citing the Paris Convention which recognizes the emblem as a national symbol of Greece. An eight-pointed version of the Vergina Sun has been used by some members of

8500-469: The area it administers. In both cases, holders of such passports are able to obtain residence on an equal footing with foreigners by applying for indefinite leave to remain (UK) or a resident certificate (ROC). A Republic of China citizen who does not have household registration ( Chinese : 戶籍 ; pinyin : hùjí ) in the area administered by the ROC is classified as a National Without Household Registration (NWOHR; Chinese : 無戶籍國民 ) and

8625-429: The auspices of the ICAO . ICAO standards include those for machine-readable passports . Such passports have an area where some of the information otherwise written in textual form is written as strings of alphanumeric characters, printed in a manner suitable for optical character recognition . This enables border controllers and other law enforcement agents to process these passports more quickly, without having to input

8750-437: The beginning of the 4th century BC, Archelaus transferred the Macedonian capital northeast to Pella on the central Macedonian plain. Nevertheless, Aigai retained its role as the sacred city of the Macedonian kingdom, the site of the traditional cult centres, a royal palace and the royal tombs . For this reason it was here that Philip II was attending the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to King Alexander of Epirus when he

8875-415: The excavations. More ruins of the ancient palace were found, but the excavations were abandoned on the outbreak of war with Italy in 1940. After the war the excavations were resumed, and during the 1950s and 1960s the rest of the royal capital was uncovered, including the theatre. The Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos became convinced that a hill called the Great Tumulus (Μεγάλη Τούμπα) concealed

9000-559: The family of Cassander of Macedon. Some artifacts excavated at Vergina may be treated as influenced by Asian practices or even imported from Achaemenid Persia in late 6th and early 5th centuries BC, which is during the time Macedon was under the Persian sway. In 2023, nearly 50 years later, a study led by professor of anthropology at the Democritus University of Thrace Antonios Bartsiokas 'conclusively' revealed that

9125-466: The first capital of Macedon . In 336 BC Philip II was assassinated in Aigai's theatre and his son, Alexander the Great , was proclaimed king. While the resting place of Alexander the Great is unknown, researchers uncovered three tombs at Vergina in 1977 – referred to as tombs I, II and III. Tomb I contained Philip II, Alexander the Great's father , tomb II belonged to Philip III of Macedon , Alexander

9250-663: The head of state, and may be written in more than one language, depending on the language policies of the issuing authority. In 1920, an international conference on passports and through tickets held by the League of Nations recommended that passports be issued in the French language , historically the language of diplomacy, and one other language. Currently, the ICAO recommends that passports be issued in English, French, and Spanish; or in

9375-428: The information manually into a computer. ICAO publishes Doc 9303 Machine Readable Travel Documents , the technical standard for machine-readable passports. A more recent standard is for biometric passports . These contain biometrics to authenticate the identity of travellers. The passport's critical information is stored on a tiny RFID computer chip, much like information stored on smartcards . Like some smartcards,

9500-549: The international law applicable to all countries now render those historical tenets both obsolete and unlawful. Governments around the world issue a variety of passports for different purposes. The most common variety are ordinary passports issued to individual citizens and other nationals . In the past, certain countries issued collective passports or family passports. Today, passports are typically issued to individual travellers rather than groups. Aside from ordinary passports issued to citizens by national governments, there are

9625-694: The issuing country; rather, it provides certification to foreign government officials of the holder's identity and right to travel, with pages available for inserting entry and exit stamps and travel visas —endorsements that allow the individual to enter and temporarily reside in a country for a period of time and under certain conditions. Since 1998, many countries have transitioned to biometric passports , which contain an embedded microchip to facilitate authentication and safeguard against counterfeiting . As of July 2024, over 150 jurisdictions issue such "e-passports"; previously issued non-biometric passports usually remain valid until expiration. Eligibility for

9750-502: The king granted leave and gave him a letter "to the governors beyond the river" requesting safe passage for him as he traveled through their lands. The ancient Indian political text Arthashastra (third century BCE) mentions passes issued at the rate of one masha per pass to enter and exit the country, and describes the duties of the Mudrādhyakṣa ( lit.   ' Superintendent of Seals ' ) who must issue sealed passes before

9875-511: The later part of the nineteenth century and up to World War I, passports were not required, on the whole, for travel within Europe, and crossing a border was a relatively straightforward procedure. Consequently, comparatively few people held passports. During World War I, European governments introduced border passport requirements for security reasons, and to control the emigration of people with useful skills. These controls remained in place after

10000-522: The leading analysts of the Macedonia naming dispute, claimed that: what prompted the adoption of the Vergina Star was a desire from Skopje's part to advance maximalist objectives in order to barter with them for other concessions at the negotiating table when the time comes. Although the authorities in Skopje denied any ulterior motives, the flag became a major issue in the wider political dispute between

10125-601: The legal team that represented the Republic of Macedonia in the naming dispute with Greece before the International Court of Justice in the Hague for violation of the Interim Accord, argues that the Vergina Sun is not a Macedonian symbol but it is a Greek symbol that is used by Macedonians in the nationalist context of Macedonism and that the Macedonians need to get rid of it. Outside of official usage,

10250-582: The main treasures of the museum. Tomb II of Philip II , the father of Alexander was discovered in 1977 and was separated in two rooms. The main room included a marble chest, and in it was the Golden Larnax made of 24-carat gold and weighing 11 kilograms (24 lb), embossed with the Vergina Sun symbol. Inside the golden larnax the bones of the dead were found and a golden wreath of 313 oak leaves and 68 acorns, weighing 717 grams (25.3 oz). In

10375-520: The medieval Islamic Caliphate , a form of passport was the bara'a , a receipt for taxes paid. Only people who paid their zakah (for Muslims ) or jizya (for dhimmis ) taxes were permitted to travel to different regions of the Caliphate; thus, the bara'a receipt was a "basic passport". In the 12th century , the Republic of Genoa issued a document called Bulletta , which was issued to

10500-401: The mid-nineteenth century led to large increases in the volume of international travel and a consequent unique dilution of the passport system for approximately thirty years prior to World War I . The speed of trains, as well as the number of passengers that crossed multiple borders, made enforcement of passport laws difficult. The general reaction was the relaxation of passport requirements. In

10625-414: The modern passport was universally adopted and standardized in 1920. The passport takes the form of a booklet bearing the official name and emblem of the issuing government and containing the biographical information of the individual, including their full name, photograph, place and date of birth, and signature. A passport does not create any rights in the country being visited nor impose any obligation on

10750-467: The nationals of the Republic who were traveling to the ports of the emporiums and the ports of the Genoese colonies overseas, as well as to foreigners who entered them. King Henry V of England is credited with having invented what some consider the first British passport in the modern sense, as a means of helping his subjects prove who they were in foreign lands. The earliest reference to these documents

10875-440: The needs of the court merchants from all over the ancient world brought to Aigai valuable goods including perfume, carved ornaments and jewellery. The city wall was built in the 5th century, probably by Perdiccas II . At the end of the 5th century Archelaus I brought to his court artists, poets, and philosophers from all over the Greek world; for example, it was at Aigai that Euripides wrote and presented his last tragedies. At

11000-644: The other categories of nationality do not grant bearers right of abode in the United Kingdom itself. British National (Overseas) passports are issued to individuals connected to Hong Kong prior to its return to China. British Overseas Citizen passports are primarily issued to individuals who did not acquire the citizenship of the colony they were connected to when it obtained independence (or their stateless descendants). British Overseas Citizen passports are also issued to certain categories of Malaysian nationals in Penang and Malacca, and individuals connected to Cyprus as

11125-399: The palace's main peristyle have been reconstructed, some towering to a height of 25 ft. The frieze on the peristyle's southern section has also been reconstructed. Over 5,000 square feet of mosaics depicting a range of scenes, including the ravishing of Europa and motifs from nature have been carefully conserved. The Palace of Aigai is the largest building of classical Greece and

11250-407: The passport booklet design calls for an embedded contactless chip that is able to hold digital signature data to ensure the integrity of the passport and the biometric data. Historically, legal authority to issue passports is founded on the exercise of each country's executive discretion. Certain legal tenets follow, namely: first, passports are issued in the name of the state; second, no person has

11375-408: The passport's term of validity and [the] digital certificate of the chip". Ordinary biometric passports were introduced by the Ministry of Public Security on 15 May 2012. As of January 2015, all new passports issued by China are biometric e-passports, and non-biometric passports are no longer issued. In 2012, over 38 million Chinese citizens held ordinary passports, comprising only 2.86 percent of

11500-473: The plain, and all that remained was a small settlement whose name alone Palatitsia (palace) indicated its former importance. The modern settlement of Vergina was established in 1922, between two preexisting villages, " Kutlesh " (Κούτλες, Koútles ) and " Barbes " (Μπάρμπες, Bármpes ), formerly part of the Ottoman Beylik of Palatitsia. In the 19th century, both Kutlesh and Barbes were Greek villages in

11625-496: The reign of Philip II, even though he also had a palace in the capital, Pella . It has been suggested that the building was designed by the architect Pytheos of Priene , known for his work on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and for his views on urban planning and architectural proportions). The theatre, also from the second half of the 4th century BC, was closely associated with the palace. Nearly 30 large columns that surrounded

11750-605: The right to settle in Taiwan. About 60,000 NWOHRs currently hold Taiwanese passports with this status. The United Kingdom issues several similar but distinct passports which correspond to the country's several categories of nationality. Full British citizens are issued a standard British passport . British citizens resident in the Crown Dependencies may hold variants of the British passport which confirm their Isle of Man , Jersey , or Guernsey identity. Many of

11875-563: The risk of permanent exile. In 1791, Louis XVI masqueraded as a valet during his Flight to Varennes as passports for the nobility typically included a number of persons listed by their function but without further description. A Pass-Card Treaty of October 18, 1850 among German states standardized information including issuing state, name, status, residence, and description of bearer. Tramping journeymen and jobseekers of all kinds were not to receive pass-cards. A rapid expansion of railway infrastructure and wealth in Europe beginning in

12000-407: The room were also found the golden and ivory panoply of the dead, the richly carved burial bed on which he was laid and later burned and exquisite silver utensils for the funeral feast. Other magnificent items include several gold-adorned suits of armour, weapons, and bronze funeral utensils. In the antechamber was another chest with another golden larnax containing the bones of a woman wrapped in

12125-439: The site of the ancient Macedonian capital of Aegae , the archaeologist Manolis Andronikos found the symbol on the coffin ( Golden Larnax ) believed to belong to Philip II of Macedon , father of Alexander the Great . The "sunburst" symbol was already well known as a symbol used both by the Macedonian royal dynasty (e.g. on coins), as well as being present in the Hellenistic civilization more generally. The symbol might represent

12250-516: The skeleton long identified as belonging to Alexander IV of Macedon is in fact his father Philip II of Macedon , and vice versa: Tomb I contained Philip II, Alexander the Great's father , tomb II belonged to Philip III of Macedon , Alexander the Great's half-brother, while tomb III contained Alexander IV , Alexander the Great's son. Tomb I also contained the remains of a woman and a baby, who Bartsiokas identified as Philip II's young wife Cleopatra Eurydice and their newborn child. Cleopatra Eurydice

12375-651: The stateless Balkan ethnic group of the Aromanians . According to University of Warwick professor Tom Winnifrith, some houses in Kruševo ( Aromanian : Crushuva ), a town in North Macedonia with a substantial Aromanian population, use star patterns resembling the Vergina Sun. Some Aromanians claim heritage from the Ancient Macedonians. On 17 June 2018, Greece and the Republic of Macedonia signed

12500-401: The symbol go back to at least the 16th century BC, with hoplites depicted as bearing sixteen-pointed and eight-pointed sunburst symbols on their shields and armor, and the same symbols being represented on coins from both island and mainland Greece from at least the 5th century BC. The Iliad describes the first panoply of Achilles as having star motifs. During his excavations at Vergina ,

12625-746: The symbol was also used in the logo of the Thessaloniki-based Makedonia television station, and of the former Bank of Macedonia-Thrace. An eight-point sun is the logo of Thessaloniki International Film Festival and part of the logo of Greek Parliament party Greek Solution . A six-pointed Vergina sun is the logo of the Thessaloniki-based Vergina television station, it also appears on Municipality of Chalkidona coat of arms in Thessaloniki region unit, on Makedonikos FC ( Greek : Μακεδονικός ) logo which

12750-572: The territory that issued their passport. Most countries distinguish between BOTC and other classes of British nationality for border control purposes. For instance, only Bermudian passport holders with an endorsement stating that they possess right of abode or belonger status in Bermuda are entitled to enter America without an electronic travel authorisation. Border control policies in many jurisdictions distinguish between holders of passports with and without right of abode, including NWOHRs and holders of

12875-400: The tomb of Philip, which is thought to belong to Alexander IV of Macedon , son of Alexander the Great , murdered 25 years after Philip's assassination. It is slightly smaller than Tomb II and was also not sacked. It was also arranged in two parts, but only the main room contained a cremated body. On a stone pedestal was found a fine silver hydria , which contained the cremated bones, and on it

13000-489: The tombs of the Macedonian kings. In 1977, Andronikos undertook a six-week dig at the Great Tumulus and found four buried tombs, two of which had never been disturbed. Andronikos identified that these were the burial sites of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II , father of Alexander the Great (Tomb II) and also of Alexander IV of Macedon , son of Alexander the Great and Roxana (Tomb III). This view

13125-519: The tombs. After the overthrow of the Macedonian kingdom by the Romans in 168 BC , both old and new capitals were destroyed, the walls pulled down and all buildings burned. In the 1st century AD, a landslide destroyed what had been rebuilt (excavations establish that parts were still inhabited then). In the 2nd to 5th centuries AD the population gradually moved from the foothills of the Pierian range to

13250-442: The total population at the time. In 2014, China issued 16 million passports, ranking first in the world, surpassing the United States (14 million) and India (10 million). The number of ordinary passports in circulation rose to 120 million by October 2016, which was approximately 8.7 percent of the population. As of April 2017 to date, China had issued over 100 million biometric ordinary passports. The three constituent countries of

13375-667: The two countries of the early 1990s (see Foreign relations of North Macedonia ). Greek objections led to the flag being banned from use in a variety of places, including the United Nations , the Olympic Games and offices of the Republic of Macedonia in the United States and Australia . The Republic of Macedonia lodged an objection against Greece's registration of the symbol with WIPO in October 1995. The dispute

13500-648: The use of the WIPO-protected Greek symbol to be banned in the Macedonian president's office, events organized under state administration, public Macedonian institutions or political parties, NGOs, media, as well as individuals in the Republic of Macedonia. The draft however was rejected in December 2013 by the majority of the Macedonian Parliament, which at the time was controlled by the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party. In early August 2017,

13625-605: The various British passports the do not confer right of abode upon the bearer. Certain jurisdictions may additionally distinguish between holders of such British passports with and without indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. NWOHRs do not, for instance, have access to the Visa Waiver Program , or to visa free access to the Schengen Area or Japan. Other countries, such as India which allows all Chinese nationals to apply for eVisas , do not make such

13750-425: The war, becoming a standard, though controversial, procedure. British tourists of the 1920s complained, especially about attached photographs and physical descriptions, which they considered led to a "nasty dehumanisation". The British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act was passed in 1914, clearly defining the notions of citizenship and creating a booklet form of the passport. In 1920, the League of Nations held

13875-455: The young republic's flag was revised into a different rayed solar symbol. On 17 June 2018, the two countries signed the Prespa Agreement , which stipulates the removal of the Vergina Sun from public use in North Macedonia. Eventually, in early July 2019 the government of North Macedonia announced the complete removal of the symbol from all public areas, institutions and monuments in the country, except archeological sites. Early representations of

14000-413: Was a unique arrangement as it involved a passport issued by one state conferring right of abode (or, more precisely right to land ) in and consular protection from another state. Since that date, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have prohibited the use of BN(O) passports as travel documents or proof of identity and it; much like British Overseas Citizen, British Protected Person, or ROC NWOHR passports;

14125-418: Was adopted by the newly independent country in the same year, displaying it on its new flag. This lasted until 1995, when the Republic of Macedonia was forced to modify its flag by Greece. The decision in the Republic of Macedonia caused controversy both within the republic and outside it in its relations with Greece. The republic's large Albanian minority complained that it was an ethnic Macedonian symbol and

14250-547: Was an essential aspect of the transition from feudalism to capitalism . Communal obligations to provide poor relief were an important source of the desire for controls on movement. One of the earliest known references to paperwork that served an analogous role to a passport is found in the Hebrew Bible . Nehemiah 2:7–9, dating from approximately 450 BC, states that Nehemiah , an official serving King Artaxerxes I of Persia , asked permission to travel to Judea ;

14375-431: Was assassinated along with her newborn child. The museum of the tumulus of Philip II, which was inaugurated in 1993, was built over the tombs leaving them in situ and showing the tumulus as it was before the excavations. Inside the museum there are four tombs and one small temple, the heroon built as the temple for the burial cluster of Philip II. The two most important tombs (II and III) were not sacked and contained

14500-510: Was built at the centre of Aigai. From Aigai the Macedonians spread to the central part of Macedonia and displaced the local population of Pierians . From 513 to 480 BC Aigai was part of the Persian Empire , but Amyntas I managed to keep its relative independence, avoid satrapy and extend its possessions. In the first half of the 5th century BC Aigai became the capital of Macedonia. Life reached unseen levels of luxury and to meet

14625-520: Was challenged by some archaeologists, and in 2010 research based on detailed study of the skeletons, vindicated Andronikos and supports the evidence of facial asymmetry caused by a possible trauma of the cranium of the male, evidence that is consistent with the history of Philip II. From 1987 the burial cluster of the queens was discovered including the tomb of Queen Eurydice . In March 2014, five more royal tombs were discovered in Vergina, possibly belonging to Alexander I of Macedon and his family or to

14750-492: Was considered to be one of the palaces of Antigonus III Doson (263–221 BC), partly destroyed by fire, were discovered near Palatitsa, which preserved the memory of a palace in its modern name. However, the excavations had to be abandoned because of the risk of malaria . The excavator suggested that this was the site of the ancient city Valla, a view that prevailed until 1976. In 1937, the University of Thessaloniki resumed

14875-463: Was incorporated into Veroia . The population of Vergina municipality as of 2011 was 2,464, of whom 1,242 lived in Vergina proper. Archaeologists were interested in the burial mounds around Vergina as early as the 1850s, supposing that the site of Aigai was in the vicinity. Excavations began in 1861 under the French archaeologist Léon Heuzey , sponsored by Napoleon III . Parts of a large building that

15000-442: Was made by the municipality of Liqenas in neighbouring Albania , which has a Macedonian population. The symbol is also used by other ethnic Macedonian minority groups in neighbouring countries and by diaspora organisations. In Canada, a Macedonian advocacy group called United Macedonians Organization uses a stylized version of the sun as part of its logo and makes extensive use of the red Vergina Sun flag. In 2018, IP Australia ,

15125-450: Was murdered by one of his bodyguards in the theatre. His was the most lavish funeral ceremony of historic times held in Greece. Laid on an elaborate gold and ivory deathbed wearing his precious golden oak wreath, the king was surrendered, like a new Hercules, to the funeral pyre. The bitter struggles between the heirs of Alexander in the 3rd century adversely affected the city; in 276 BC Gallic mercenaries of Pyrrhus plundered many of

15250-542: Was named so by Perdiccas I who was advised by the Pythian priestess to build the capital city of his kingdom where goats led him. Archaeologic evidence shows that Aigai developed as an organized collection of villages, spatially representing the aristocratic structure of tribes centred on the power of the king. It remained so throughout its history. Indeed, Aigai never became a large city and most of its inhabitants lived in surrounding villages. The walled asty (acropolis)

15375-487: Was not suitable for a multi-ethnic state. Greek opposition was even more vehement. The Greek government and many Greek people, especially Greek Macedonians, saw it as the misappropriation of a Hellenic symbol and a direct claim on the legacy of Philip II. The dispute was exacerbated by clauses in the Republic of Macedonia's constitution that Greeks saw as a territorial claim on the Greek region of Macedonia . A Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman said in January 1995 that "the symbol

15500-429: Was partially resolved under a compromise brokered by Cyrus Vance at the United Nations. The symbol was removed from the flag of the Republic of Macedonia as part of an agreement to establish diplomatic and economic relations between the two sides, and it was replaced by a stylised yellow sun with eight widening beams on red ground. The symbol was not referred to as the "Star of Vergina" in the agreement as signed, although

15625-502: Was settled in the course of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the Treaty of Lausanne , by Greek families from Asia Minor. The name "Vergina" was a suggestion by the metropolitan of Veroia, chosen from a legendary queen Vergina (Bergina), who was said to have ruled somewhere north of the Haliacmon and to have had her summer palace near Palatitsia. Vergina was a separate municipality from 1922 until 2011, when it

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