Romania’s national flag is a vertical tricolour of blue, yellow, and red with blue at the hoist. Rooted in the 1848 revolutionary movements and the colours of Wallachia and Moldavia, it was standardized in 1867 and reaffirmed after independence. Under communism (1948–1989) a state emblem was added and later excised during the 1989 Revolution. Law now prescribes respectful use, 2:3 proportions, and the colour order. The tricolour symbolizes liberty, justice, and fraternity in official interpretations.
Romania’s tricolour—blue, yellow, and red in vertical bands—binds together the heraldic and revolutionary strands of the nineteenth century with the constitutional and popular narratives of the modern state. Its chromatic sources lie in the principalities that united to form Romania, while its tricolour form reflects the era of European revolutions that transformed political symbols across the continent.
The colours appeared in combination during the revolutionary year of 1848, when Wallachian and Moldavian reformers adopted blue, yellow, and red cockades and banners in a bid for civil rights and national autonomy. Earlier, Wallachia had used blue and yellow and Moldavia red and blue in arms and standards; the combined palette signalled aspirations to unity grounded in historical memory. Early arrangements varied—horizontal stripes and differing sequences were seen—before vertical bands gained favour under French influence and the practical need for distinct naval and military identifiers.
The 1859 union of the principalities under Alexandru Ioan Cuza created the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, a political foundation for the modern Romanian state. In 1867, following international recognition and domestic reforms, authorities standardized the tricolour as blue at the hoist, then yellow and red, with a 2:3 ratio. This codification anchored the flag in law while leaving room for state variants bearing coats of arms in specific contexts.
The twentieth century introduced dramatic political change without dislodging the tricolour. During the communist era after 1948, the national flag was charged with the socialist state emblem—wheat ears, a red star, industrial and mountain motifs—centred on the yellow band. In December 1989, as the revolution overturned the regime, protesters famously cut the coat of arms from flags, leaving a hole in the yellow stripe—a potent symbol of repudiation. Subsequent legislation restored the plain tricolour as the national flag, reaffirming the colours’ republican and national meanings apart from communist heraldry.
Contemporary law prescribes proportions, respectful handling, and public display. The flag must be flown with blue at the hoist, replaced when worn, and disposed of respectfully at the end of service. It appears on public buildings, at national commemorations such as Great Union Day (1 December), and in international events, co-displayed with the European Union flag according to set precedence. Desecration or misuse can incur penalties under administrative or criminal provisions.
Interpretations of the colours have been articulated in official texts and public education: blue for liberty, yellow for justice, and red for fraternity. These readings echo the civic vocabulary of the nineteenth century and connect the flag to a constitutional tradition rather than a purely dynastic one. At the same time, the palette’s resonance with regional heraldry preserves continuity with medieval symbols, bridging past and present.
Across a century and a half, the Romanian tricolour’s continuity has lent stability to public life through monarchy, dictatorship, war, and democracy. Its clarity—a vertical triplet without complicated emblems—has made it a practical, recognisable emblem in streets and on diplomatic façades alike. In the plain tricolour, Romanians recognise a compact history lesson: union, reform, resilience, and a civic identity that has survived abrupt political change.