Small round pin. The outer rim of the pin is white with gold writing which reads "Pancretan Association of America". The center of the pin is light blue with a gold design. In the very center there is a rough surfaced and slightly lowered indent which shows the island of Crete. On top of this image there is an image of what looks like a church that is sitting directly on top of the island. Above the church, but not connected to is the symbol of the cross. Under the island there is an image of a double headed axe. Still in the blue area and on each side of the axe, moving upward are three leaves that are red and gold in color.

In the late 1910's and early 1920's Cretan fraternities were organized all over America. They included "Omonia" in New York City, "Minos" in Chicopee, "Arkadi" in Pittsburgh, "Mutual Benefit" in Cleveland, "Psilorites" in Detroit, "Cretan Fraternity" in Chicago, "Minos" in Salt Lake City, "Epimenides" in San Francisco and others. Each of these clubs was working independently but all had similar goals of giving support, comfort, and the sense of belonging to their members. Social events and celebration were held on a regular basis and Harilaos Peperakis, the talented lyra player of the times, was in heavy demand everywhere. The leaders and members of these clubs felt the need to be in touch with other Cretan clubs where friends and relatives could be found. On April 7, 1929, a special general meeting was held in "Omonoia" of NYC, with representation from "Arkadi" of Pittsburgh and "Epimenides" of SF, to discuss ways and means for creating a National Federation of all the Cretan clubs in America. The meeting resolved to: "immediately create a working committee which would contact all the other clubs to set a place and a time for a meeting of representatives to draw up a constitution and to elect a President and a board". The resolution was signed by E. Kafatos, President of "Omonoia"; T. Aktoudianakis and N. Kalimerakis, President and Councilman of "Arkadi"; and I. Tseronis, representative of "Epimenides".
The idea of unity spread like a wild fire! A flurry of publicity in Greek newspapers took place over the next few months to inform all Cretans of this novel enterprise. The newsletter "KPHTH", which was being published by "Omonoia" since 1926, gives a good account of the events. The time and place to meet was set for October 14th in Chicago. The Cretans of Chicago with their dynamic President James Betinis welcomed the delegates with great enthusiasm and typical Cretan hospitality. All of the clubs listed earlier sent representatives who were highly educated and were able to draft an eloquent constitution with substance.
The delegates of the first PAA convention also voted to conduct an organized trip to Crete in the summer of 1931.
At this time, "Omonoia" of New York passed the publishing of its newsletter KPHTH to the PAA to be published with the news of all Cretan-Americans and be distributed to every home.
Today the PAA is comprised of over 70 chapters distributed throughout America from coast to coast.

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