Meet Markos

The crest represents Greek heritage. It is Athena’s little owl (Athene noctua), the sign of ever-vigilant wisdom since antiquity. Wisdom is the foremost of the four Stoic virtues, the one that guides courage, temperance, and justice. The owl stands on the torse, twisted in the red (courage and sacrifice), white (temperance and faith), and blue (justice and freedom) of the arms below.

The coat of arms is parted Swiss red and Greek blue, in the manner of the arms of Ticino, under the white cross that Switzerland and Greece share. Red, white, and blue together represent the United States. At the crossing burns the flame of the kandili, the namesake of the family and light of its Orthodox Christian Faith.

The supporters represent Italian heritage. Olive and oak rise from one knot, the same pair that encircles the emblem of the Italian Republic. The olive is a Greco-Roman emblem, the tree of Puglia and the gift of Athena. Its oil fuels the kandili, so the branch of peace feeds the flame of Faith.

The mottoes speak the grounding and guiding virtues of the family in two ancient tongues: whole, wholesome, and holy. Beneath the red, Salvus · Sanus · Sanctus honors the Latin lineage shared by Switzerland, the United States, and Italy. Beneath the blue, Άρτιος · Ακέραιος · Άγιος honors the Hellenic heritage that lives on in Greece.