Flag of Romania

Encyclopedia : F : FL : FLA : Flag of Romania

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The national flag of Romania is a tricolour of three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red. The current form of the flag was officially adopted on December 27 1989.

The three colors are considered to stand for the three historical provinces of Romania, as a symbol of unity: Transylvania, Ţara Românească and Moldova.

The flag ratio is 2:3 (height/width), with the three colors each taking one third of the space. These are the exact colors, starting from the left (hoist side):

• blue, Pantone 280c, CMYK 100-70-0-10, RGB 0-69-230 (#0045E6)
• yellow, Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-10-95-0, RGB 255-230-13 (#FFE60D)
• red, Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-80-5, RGB 255-25-38 (#FF1926)

Note: Both the Pantone and CMYK codes come from the "Album des Pavillions" book, which has a very good reputation, hence the conversion is assumed trustworthy. The RGB codes are a straight conversion from CMYK.

History of the flag

6th century: Dacia Justinianus

One of the very first occurrences of the three official colors of today dates back to the Novella XI, issued on April 14, 535 by Emperor Justinian I. Among other things, it describes what was called "Justinian Dacia" (Banat and part of Oltenia) at the time, and contains a coat of arms for it.

"Ex parte dextra, in prima divisione, scutum rubrum, in cuius medis videtur turris, significans utramque Daciam, in secunda divisione, scutum coelesti, cum (signum) tribus Burris, quarum duae e lateribus albae sunt, media vero aurea."

Translation: "On the right, in the first section, a red shield, on which towers can be seen, signifying the other Dacia, in the second section, a blue-sky shield, with the ensigns of the Bur tribe, the sides are white, and golden in the middle."

9th-19th centuries

The three official colours were encountered again after the IX-th century, when the Romanian people is considered to have formed. The colours made various appearances in the flags of the various Romanian kingdoms and noble houses, as chosen by rulers or nobility.

While the combination of all three colors of today was only used coincidentally, it is a fact that each of them, by itself, held very important significance in the three historical provices of Romania.

The kingdom of Moldova used [a red flag] almost continuously starting from the XIV-th century. Similarly, Muntenia (or Ţara Românească) used [flags] which contained yellow or white starting with the XVI-th century. And while Romanians in Transylvania were not allowed to use a flag due to systematic oppresion, the Romanian noble families used sky-blue exclusively as the shield color for their coats of arms.

1600: the first unification

In 1600, prince Michael the Brave briefly managed to unite all three Romanian provinces, a historical feat which inspired many of the following nationalistic movements. As ruler of Wallachia and Transylvania, he managed to defeat the Moldovan army on May 18 1600, and effectively united for the first time the three parts of today's Romania.

This state of affairs didn't last long, partly due to the concern of neighboring powers with a unified Romania, and partly due to the assassination of Michael the Brave in 1601. Even so, the three colors were used during 1599-1601 on diplomas issued by Michael's administration as a sign of appreciation to the various nobles who supported him. Over 20 diplomas have been recovered, which contain the three colors together on the crests and shields.

1821: the Anti-phanariotes revolution

During the anti-phanariotes revolution of 1821, the three colours were displayed together on the flag used by Tudor Vladimirescu, the leader of the Wallachian uprising. While the main color of the flag was white, the hoist had three sets of tassels, combining the red, blue and yellow colors two by two.

1834: the first flag

The first official acknowledgement of the three colours together on the flag took place in 1834, during the ruling of Dimitrie Ghica, when the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire approved the adoption of [a flag] with the three colours placed horizontally (with blue at the bottom) and an eagle holding a crown and sceptre on yellow, for the use of all Romanian commercial and military units and ships.

This was the first official union of the three colours, and while it didn't hold a nationalistic meaning at the time, it was later taken as a symbol for the following nationalistic movements.

1848: the revolution

During the Revolutions of 1848, the newly formed Romanian Government stated in its Decree no. 1, from June 14, 1848, and later detailed in Decree no. 252, July 13, 1848, that the official flag was to be composed of three colours: "dark blue, light yellow and crimson red". The flag had vertical colours with blue at the hoist, and bore the inscription "Justice, Fraternity".

Horizontal colours had been used that same year at the National Assemblies at Blaj, on the Field of Liberty, on April 26. The Romanians there used white instead of yellow -- supposedly in solidarity with other European revolutionaries, such as the French and the Hungarians, who also used white for their flags -- and the inscription "Virtus Romana Rediviva" (Romanian virtue reborn). Eventually, however, all Romanian flags reverted to the yellow colour.

1859: the Great Unification

The national flag is once again ratified in 1859, when Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected as ruler in both Moldova and Ţara Românească in a surprise consensus of the Romanians in both.

This flag, used from 1859 to 1862, had once again the colours placed horizontally, with blue at the bottom.

1867: Kingdom of Romania

The placement was changed back to vertical in 1867, with the arrival of Carol I as the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania (1881-1947). It has remained in this form ever since, with the blue colour at the hoist.

1948: the Communist state

In 1948, the Communist regime (1947-1989) replaced the former coat of arms (composed of traditional Romanian heraldic elements) with a new one, of Soviet influence. Originally this new coat of arms was without the red star symbolizing Socalism, however it was added later.

1989: the revolution

The Communist coat of arms was eliminated during the days of the 1989 revolution, when protesters on the streets of Timişoara and Bucharest waved flags with a round hole cut in the middle. Later, the Government decided not to incorporate a new coat of arms into the flag.

Similar flags

The Romanian flag is almost identical to the otherwise unrelated national flag of Chad. It is also similar to the flag of Moldova and the flag of Andorra, which differ in both ratio and by having coats of arms.

Flag of Moldova

Historically, Moldova was a part of the Principality of Moldavia, which was later split, and became again part of Greater Romania, fully, in 1918.

Annexed by the Soviet Union under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, during 1940-1941 and 1945-1991 it was known as the Moldavian SSR and was forced to adopt a Soviet flag.

Moldova declared its independence on 27 August 1991 and chose a flag having the same colours as Romanian flag, with the Moldovan coat of arms in the center. The flag ratio is 1:2. [link]

Flag of Chad

Expert references (such as the [Album des Pavillons (2000)] book) state that the Romanian flag and the Flag of Chad differ slightly in the shade of the blue colour, with the Romanian colour [being lighter].

There have been occasional media hypes regarding the similarity between the post-1989 Romanian flag and the flag of Chad, since neither of them uses a coat of arms and are extremely similar. The [most recent] such hype dates from April 2004 and was created over a rumoured Chad contestation of the Romanian flag. The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs settled it by clearly stating that the Romanian flag had been registered with WIPO since 1997 and that no contestation had occurred in the legal 12-month period following the registration.

Flag of Andorra

The Romanian flag is also similar to the unrelated flag of Andorra.

Flag Day

Flag Day (Ziua Tricolorului) on June 26 is an annual holiday in Romania.

Bibliography

• [Law no. 75 of July 16th, 1994] (in Romanian): defines the flag size and colors and establishes rules of use
• [Law no. 96 of May 20, 1998] (in Romanian): declares the Flag Day
• [Romanian] section at [Flags of the World]
• [Album des Pavillons (2000)]: very highly regarded vexillological book
• [Tricolorul românesc: mărturie a vechimii şi dăinuirii neamului nostru] (in Romanian): a collection of facts regarding the history of the Romanian flag, documented with printed and official references

National flags	National coats of arms
Flags of sovereign states	Coats of arms of sovereign states
Flags of dependent territories Flags of unrecognized states	Coats of arms of dependent territories Coats of arms of unrecognized states

 

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