AEK (sports club)

The Athletic Union of Constantinople (), more commonly referred to as AEK or in European competitions as AEK Athens, is a sports club based in the city of Athens, Greece.

The club was founded on 13 April 1924 in Athens by Greek refugees fromConstantinople (now Istanbul) in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War and subsequent population exchange.The large Greek population of Constantinople, not unlike those of the other Ottoman urbancentres, continued its athletic traditions in the form of numerous athletic clubs. Clubs suchas Enosi Tataoulon () from the Tatavladistrict, Megas Alexandros () of Vathyriakos,and Hermes ( – Ermis) of Galata existed to promoteHellenic athletic and cultural ideals; Hermes, one of the more popular clubs, wasformed in 1875 by the Greek community of Pera (Galata). Forced by the Kemalist regime tochange its name to Pera Club in 1921, many of its athletes fled during the populationexchanges at the end of the Greco-Turkish War, and settled inAthens and Thessaloniki.

The founders of AEK established the club with the intention of providing athletic and cultural diversions for the thousands of predominantly Constantinopolitan and Anatolian refugees who had settled in the new suburbs of Athens (Nea Filadelfeia, Nea Ionia, Nea Chalkidona, Nea Smyrni, e.t.c.).

Crest and Colours

Since the club's foundation, AEK have had three main crests, though all underwent minor variations. In 1924, AEK adopted as their first crest the image of a double-headed eagle ( –......
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