Romanian Flag

Romanian Flag is celebrated in Romania on June 26. This year, the celebration marks 172 years since the declaration of blue, yellow and red as the official colours of the Romanian flag. 1848 was a period of revolutions that stormed the European nations at that time. However, this is the first time Romania officially established, admired and recognized the Romanian flag.

The Romanian flag has its colours displayed vertically, but it hasn’t always been like that. There were times when the flag had the colours displayed horizontally. Some regret that period, others prefer the current flag.

One of the interesting facts about the Romanian flag is that, in 2013, Romania held the world record for the biggest flag in the world. It measured about 349 x 227 meters (1,145 x 744.5ft), about three times the size of a football field. Guinness World of Records officially mentioned the Romanian Flag.

​Romanian Flag – History of the Flag

Many of you may wonder what is the meaning of the Romanian Flag. The Romanian flag has its own history, which we believe is worth telling.

The first time when the Romanian flag’s tricolour was blue, yellow and red was in 1834. They used to symbolize merchant flags as well as native militia units flags. In the beginning, the colours were displayed horizontally. However, the revolutionary government in Bucharest emphasized the vertical arrangement. They believed that having blue at the hoist will make the flag more popular.

In 1859, the Romanian Tricolor became the National Flag. Regardless of the revolutionary government’s opinion, the Romanian flag arrangement was horizontal until 1862. Luckily, in 1867, the flag was changed to vertical alignment, having blue at upraise.

During 1948, the Romanian flag went through a lot of changes. This time, the national flag design tampered with a coat of arms. The National Coat of Arms represented a blue shield featuring a golden eagle with a mace and sword with a cross in its beak. The shield displays emblems of Wallachia, Moldavia, Oltenia, Banat, Transylvania and Dobrogea.

Believe it or not, this version was also changed four times until the end of the Communist Regime in December 1989. The end of the communist era came with the final change in the Romanian flag – they re-established it to its original colours.

In 1991 the Romanian Constitution was adopted. In one of its parts, it was declared that “the flag of Romania is tricolour; the colours are arranged vertically in the following order from the mast: blue, yellow, (and) red”. Finally, in 1998, the Romanian law attributed June 26 as Romanian National Flag Day.

​Romanian Flag – What do the colors represent?

As you saw, three vertical bands: blue, yellow and red compose the State Flag. At first sight, it may seem like basic tricolour colours. However, there is a great deal of meaning behind these colours. Since 1821, it was clear that the three colours of the National Flag of Romanian will symbolize freedom, justice and brotherhood.

If we take a look at the tricolour, we will see the first colour is blue. Located at the hoist side, the cobalt blue represents liberty and freedom. In the middle of the flag, there is yellow, which symbolizes justice. The final band, red, represents the nation’s fraternity.

Even if the flag has changed throughout time, it always had the same emotional meaning for all Romanians.

​Why do Romania and Chad have nearly identical flags?

A controversial fact about the Romanian flag is its similarity with the Chad flag, to the point of confusion. Could you tell the difference just by looking at the picture below?

For all those who haven’t realized yet, the Romanian flag is above the Chad flag. The similarity is confusing, right?

There are opinions asking for a change here, but first of all, Romania has to change its Constitution in order to modify the flag. One of the proposed changes was for the flag to display the Romanian national emblem in the middle, on the yellow part, but this also would create confusion with the Republic of Moldova flag.

This subject is rather controversial and not a pleasant topic for everyone. Let us tell you why! We will try to present you the facts as they happened.

The year 1866 was the first time the country used the flag. This marks the time when Walachia changed the National Flag to blue, yellow and red after the unification with Moldova against the Ottoman Empire.

On the other side, we have Chad. Chad is a relatively small country from Central Africa. Like it or not, they kind of decided to steal the Romanian flag in 1960, after the country gained its independence from France.

The first relations between the two countries Romania-Chad took place in 1966. Even so, neither of them have an embassy in the other country until today. Throughout time, Romania and Chad have interacted both economically and politically.

In 2004 things took an unexpected turn. Reports stated that Chad has requested United Nations to check into the issue of Romania having the same flag as Chad. Since 2004, Chad has been denying that Romania was the first country to use the National Tricolor of blue, yellow and red. Romania’s President at that time, Ion Iliescu, declared publicly that Romania will not change its flag. “The tricolour belongs to us. We will not give up the tricolour” were his exact words.

After this incident, Romania and Chad had no more relations, whether positive or negative. It may come as a surprise, but the issue has remained unsolved until nowadays.

The only difference between the two flags is that Romania has a cobalt blue, whereas Chad has an indigo blue. It is not easy to spot, because such colour difference is only visible for those with a very particular eye.

Romanian Flag Emoji

What is social media without emoji? Good news for all social media lovers, you can find the Romanian flag emoji. Click here to get your Romanian flag emoji for Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. This online emoji platform is just one of the many. You can find out your favourite one online.

All things considered, the National Flag of Romania went through a lot in order to reach its final version. No matter the circumstances, it has succeeded in keeping Romanians together. “Freedom, justice and brotherhood” will always have a special place in Romanians’ hearts.

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