Nikolaos Plastiras was a Greek general and politician, who served twice as Prime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier known for his personal bravery, he became famous as "The Black Rider" during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, where he commanded the 5/42 Evzone Regiment. After the Greek defeat in the war, along with other Venizelist officers he launched the 11 September 1922 Revolution that deposed King Constantine I of Greece and his government. The military-led government ruled until January 1924, when power was handed over to an elected National Assembly, which later declared the Second Hellenic Republic. In the interwar period, Plastiras remained a devoted Venizelist and republican. Trying to avert the rise of the royalist People's Party and the restoration of the monarchy, he led two coup attempts in 1933 and 1935, both of which failed, forcing him to exile in France.

The 5/42 Evzone Regiment "Delvinaki" is an active infantry unit of the Hellenic Army. It was established in 1913 as an elite regiment of Evzones, recruited in Central Greece and headquartered in Lamia. As such the unit served in the Macedonian front of World War I, the Allied intervention in the Ukraine, the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, and the Greco-Italian War during World War II. Reformed as the 53rd Brigade in 1948, it participated in the Greek Civil War, before receiving the designation 5/42 Infantry Regiment in 1951. The regiment was disbanded in 1954, but revived as a reserve formation in 1979, under its original name. In November 2000 it received the honorific title "Delvinaki". Since January 2003 it is a battalion-sized formation that forms the garrison of the Dodecanese island of Kalymnos.