Flag of Romania
Romania's flag has three upright stripes of equal width: blue, yellow and red.
At a glance
- Adopted
- December 27, 1989the plain tricolour was restored after the 1989 revolution, returning to the 1867 layout; exact shades were set in 2023
- Shape (height : width)
- 2:3
- Capital
- Bucharest
- Continent
- Europe
- Colours
- cobalt blue
- chrome yellow
- vermilion red
What it means
- Blue, yellow, red: no official meaning; historians link them to a motto of the 1800s: liberty (sky blue), justice (field yellow) and fraternity (blood red)
Where it came from
Blue, yellow and red appeared in the coats of arms and banners of lands where Romanians lived as early as the 1300s. The first documented tricolour was used in Wallachia in 1834. In the revolution of 1848, a decree of 26 June made the tricolour the national flag, and it was shown with upright stripes.
History
After Wallachia and Moldavia united, the country used sideways stripes from 1862 to 1866, and in 1867 it went back to upright stripes. Under communism, from 1948, a coat of arms was added to the middle.
During the revolution of December 1989, protesters in Timisoara and elsewhere cut the communist emblem out of their flags, leaving a hole in the middle. The plain tricolour became the official flag again on 27 December 1989.
Fun facts
- The flag with a hole in the middle became a symbol of the 1989 revolution.
- Romania's Flag Day is 26 June, marking the 1848 decree.
- In 2004 Chad asked the United Nations to look at the two almost identical flags, but Romania kept its flag.
- The exact shades were only written into law in 2023.
Easy to mix up with
Chad
MoldovaQuestions
What does the flag of Romania look like?
Romania's flag has three upright stripes of equal width: blue, yellow and red.
What do the colours and symbols on the flag of Romania mean?
Blue, yellow, red: no official meaning; historians link them to a motto of the 1800s: liberty (sky blue), justice (field yellow) and fraternity (blood red).
When was the flag of Romania adopted?
The current flag of Romania was adopted on December 27, 1989. (the plain tricolour was restored after the 1989 revolution, returning to the 1867 layout; exact shades were set in 2023)
What colours are on the flag of Romania?
The flag of Romania uses cobalt blue, chrome yellow and vermilion red.
Which flag is easy to mix up with the flag of Romania?
It is easy to mix up with the flag of Chad. Chad has the same three colours in the same order; its blue is a little darker, and the two flags arose separately
Famous landmarks in Romania
🎯 Play the flag quiz 🌍 Play the globe
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org
- crwflags.com
- Flag picture: flagcdn.com (Wikimedia Commons)