The change in the composition of the school population as a result of the extensive influx of immigrants in Greece has brought in a recurrent controversy on the issue of allowing non-Greek citizen to carry the national flag, the Greek's most cherished national emblem, as a reward for an excellent school performance. When a state legislator, many decades ago, instructed the teachers' board of each school to award the pupil with the highest marks the supreme honor of carrying the national flag in the parades commemorating the two national holidays on 28 October and 25 March, he could not have foreseen this development. To some, the national flag symbolizes the glorious wars for independence and the achievements of national integration. These people argue that the flag should not be belittled by turning it into a mere prize for pupils excelling in school, least of all when this prize is given to a foreigner. At the other end of public opinion, the case of the flag-in-school controversy represents discrimination against immigrant children, which not only hurts their feelings but also constitutes a violation of basic democratic principles and fundamental human rights. This debate reveals not only the passions of those involved but also a broader ideological agitation that has been slowly developing in Greek society over the past fifteen years. Here, the authors examine the flag-in-school controversy through the lens of national identity, not only as it is conceived of today, but as it has evolved and been interpreted and institutionalized over the past two centuries. The purpose of this investigation is to understand and appreciate the problems of and prospects for using the education system to instill a common identity and purpose in a society that has become, for the first time in its history, multicultural. (Contains 3 tables and 10 notes.)