The national flag of Romania () is a tricolor featuring three equal vertical bands colored blue (at the flagpole), yellow, and red, with a width-to-length ratio of 2:3.
The current version was adopted in 1989 in the wake of the Romanian Revolution and is defined in the Constitution of Romania as well as by organic law 75/1994,Law no. 75 of 16 July 1994, published in no. 237 of 26 August 1994 plus several later clarifications. Starting in 2023, the law provides exact color shades for print and digital purposes.
The colors have been used individually or in pairs on official insignia and symbols since the 14th century, but were first officially combined on a flag in the 19th century. Although the flag has seen several variations over the years, its overall design has remained consistent, maintaining the same colors and a similar arrangement of the bands.
Legal framework and specifications
Law no. 75/1994 specifies that the flag height is 2/3 of the width and that the color stripes are of equal size with blue at the hoist.
Prior to 2023, the law specified the colors using the cobalt blue, chrome yellow and vermilion red pigments, but did not go into further detail.
In the 2023 revision of the law, the pigments were replaced with exact color shades in the Pantone, CMYK and RGB color models.
(1867–present) Blue Yellow Red Pantone 280c 116c 186c CMYK 100-70-0-10 0-10-95-0 0-90-80-5 RGB 0-43-127 252-209-22 206-17-38 Hexadecimal #002B7F #FCD116 #CE1126
History and significance of the colors
Early use of the colors
The colors blue, yellow and red are documented on flags and coats of arms in Romanian-inhabited lands as far back as the 14th century.
They were extensively used on the coat of arms and flags of the Moldavian Principality. Some examples include a gonfalon of Dragoș Vodă, flags used by Stephen the Great and Petru Rareș, army flags used during the reign of Ieremia Movilă, voivodal flags of Michael the Brave, Alexandru Ipsilanti, Alexandru Suțu, Mihai Sturdza, Alexandru Ghica. Adrian Criș, "Orădenii pot vedea la Muzeul Militar o colecție de steaguri istorice deschisă cu stindarde încă dinaintea lui Ștefan cel Mare (FOTO)", in Bihoreanul, 28 November 2016. "FOTO-VIDEO Colecție de steaguri istorice moldovenești, prezentată la Muzeul Național al Unirii din Alba Iulia", at Alba24.ro, 29 November 2015.
Upon creating a "Grand Principality of Transylvania" on 2 November 1765, Maria Theresa changed the Transylvanian coat of arms to a design that used red, yellow and blue.
Many Wallachian rulers such as Michael the Brave, Basarab I, Radu Șerban, Mihnea III, Matei Basarab, Scarlat Ghica, Alexandros Soutzos, John George Caradja used coats of arms and flags or ensigns in blue, yellow or red. Maria Dogaru, "Din Heraldica României. Album", Ed. Jif, Brașov, 1994.
Contemporary descriptions and later reconstructions indicate that the flag of Wallachia during Michael the Brave's reign was made of damask, originally yellow-white but later faded to white. It featured a black eagle on a green juniper branch, with a cross in its beak. Ioan Silviu Nistor, "Tricolorul românesc: simbol configurat de Mihai Viteazul", in Dacoromania, nr. 76/2015
During the 1970s and 1980s, with protochronism receiving official endorsement, it was claimed that red, yellow and blue were found on 16th-century royal grants issued by Michael the Brave, as well as on his shields and banners.Pălănceanu (1974), p. 138.
First use of the colors for self-determination
During the Wallachian uprising of 1821, Tudor Vladimirescu commissioned a revolutionary flag depicting the New Testament Holy Trinity, Saint George, Saint Tiron and the Wallachian eagle. The blue, yellow and red are present on the vestments of the saints as well as three tassels attached to the pole. "Repriviri istorice asupra Steagului Revoluției Române din 1821", at UZPR (Union of Professional Journalists of Romania), 24 January 2024.
Historiographers consider this one of the earliest instances of the three colors being used deliberately together in the context of Romanian self-determination, with the meaning "Liberty (sky-blue), Justice (field yellow), Fraternity (blood red)".Iscru, Gheorghe D., "Steagul Revoluției din 1821", in Revista Arhivelor no. 2/1981, p. 211.
The first documented use of a tricolour took place in Wallachia in 1834, when the reforming domnitor Alexandru II Ghica submitted naval and military flag designs for the approval of Sultan Mahmud II. Included among them was a "flag with a red, blue and yellow face, also having stars and a bird's head in the middle"."Buletinul – Gazetă Oficială a Țării Românești", no. 34 of 14 October 1834, p. 144 Soon, the order of colors was changed, with yellow appearing in the center.
The 1848 Revolution
In April 1848, the flag adopted by the revolutionaries was initially a blue-yellow-red tricolor (with blue above, in line with the meaning "Liberty, Justice, Fraternity"). Already on 26 April, according to Gazeta de Transilvania,Gazeta de Transilvania, year XI, no. 34 of 26 April 1848, p. 140. Romanian students in Paris were hailing the new government with a blue, gold and red flag, "as a symbol of union between Moldavians and Muntenians".Dogaru (1978), p. 862.Căzănișteanu (1967), p. 36.
Decree no. 1 of 14/26 June 1848 of the provisional government mentioned that "the National Flag will bear three colours: blue, yellow, red", emblazoned with the words "DPEПTATE ФPЪЦIE" (Dreptate, Frăție or "Justice, Fraternity"). It differed from earlier tricolors in that the blue stripe was on top, the princely monogram was eliminated from the corners, as was the crown atop the eagle at the end of the flagpole, while a motto was now present.Dogaru (1978), p. 861.
Later on, Decree no. 252 of 13/25 July 1848, issued specifically because "it has not been understood [yet] how the national flags should be designed", defined the flag as three vertical stripes, possibly influenced by the French model.Năsturel (1900/1901), p. 255. The shades were "dark blue, light yellow and carmine red"; as for order, "near the wood comes blue, then yellow and then red fluttering".Anul 1848 în Principatele Române, II, Bucharest, 1902, p. 477.
St. Luke's Church, built in 1782–1791 in Sibiu, hosts a Romanian flag with vertical stripes that was flown at the national assemblies at Blaj on Câmpia Libertății during the Revolution. The flag's colours and the icon painted in the centre have faded. The flag was hidden in order to avoid being taken or destroyed by the Communist regime and subsequently lost, then rediscovered in 2014."Unul dintre cele mai vechi steaguri tricolore din România", at Basilica.ro, 11 December 2014.
Petre Vasiliu-Năsturel observes that from a heraldic point of view, on the French as well as the revolutionary Wallachian flag, the middle stripe represents a heraldic metal (argent and or respectively), thus, the two flags could be related. Other historians believe that the tricolour was not an imitation of the French flag, instead embodying an old Romanian tradition.Căzănișteanu (1967), p. 36Dogaru (1978), p. 868. This theory is supported by a note from the revolutionary minister of foreign affairs to Emin Pasha: "the colors of the band that we, the leaders, wear, as well as all our followers, are not of modern origin. We have had our flags since an earlier time. When we received the tricolor insignia and bands we did not follow the spirit of imitation or fashion". The same minister assured the extraordinary envoy of the Porte, Suleiman Pasha, that the flag's three colours had existed "for a long time; our ancestors bore them on their standard and their flags. So they are not a borrowing or an imitation from the present or a threat for the future".
After the revolution was quelled, the old flags were restored and the revolutionaries punished for having worn the tricolor.
United Principalities of Romania
From 1859 until 1866, the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia had a red-yellow-blue Romanian tricolor, with horizontal stripes, as national flag.Năsturel (1900/1901), p. 253
The flag was described in Almanahul român din 1866 as: "a tricolor flag, divided in three stripes, red, yellow and blue and laid out horizontally: red above, blue below and yellow in the middle".Pălănceanu (1974), p. 145.
Although the Ottoman Empire did not allow the United Principalities to have their own symbols, the new flag gained a degree of international recognition. Relating prince Cuza's May–June 1864 journey to Constantinople, doctor Carol Davila observed: "The Romanian flag was raised on the great mast, the Sultan's kayaks awaited us, the guard was armed, the Grand Vizier at the door... The Prince, quiet, dignified, concise in his speech, spent 20 minutes with the Sultan, who then came to review us... Once again, the Grand Vizier led the Prince to the main gate and we returned to the Europe Palace, the Romanian flag still fluttering on the mast...".Mihalache (1967), pp. 180–1.
Article 124 of the 1866 Constitution of Romania provided that "the colors of the United Principalities will be Blue, Yellow and Red".Constituția României, 1866, title VI, art. 124. The order and placement of the colors were decided by the Assembly of Deputies in its session of 26 March 1867. Thus, following a proposal by Nicolae Golescu, they were placed just as in 1848:Năsturel (1900/1901), p. 257 vertically and in the following order: blue hoist, yellow in the middle and red fly.
The country's coat of arms was placed only on army and princely flags, in the center; civilian flags remained without a coat of arms.Velcu (1938), p. 81 The same distinction was made between flags of the Navy and those of the civil and merchant ships.
The rapporteur Mihail Kogălniceanu, who also conveyed the opinion of Cezar Bolliac, Dimitrie Brătianu, Constantin Grigorescu, Ion Leca, Nicolae Golescu and Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, said: "The tricolor flag as it is today is not (as the minister claims) the flag of the United Principalities. It is much more: it is itself the flag of the Romanian nation in all lands inhabited by Romanians".Năsturel (1900/1901), p. 257.
The "Law for modifying the country's arms" of 11/23 March 1872 did not change these provisions, only the design of the coat of arms.
Socialist and Communist era
On 30 December 1947 Romania was proclaimed a socialist people's republic and all symbols of the former kingdom were outlawed, including the royal coat of arms and the tricolor flags that showed it.
The flag retained its colors and characteristics, the only difference being that it now included a redesigned coat of arms placed in the middle on the gold band, featuring industrial and agricultural symbolism. It was also during this era that the 2:3 proportion was regulated by law for the first time.
The national anthem between 1977 and 1990 was a modified version of a patriotic song that gave the color meanings as "heart's fire" (red), "golden future" (yellow) and "faith" (blue), but the Communist version stripped the original references and left only "red, yellow and blue".
Shown here is the last and most long-lived version of the flag, which was in use for 24 years.
The 1989 Revolution
On 20 December 1989, during the revolution at Timișoara, the protesters were waving flags with the Communist coat of arms cut out of the middle."REVOLUȚIE 30: Imagini din 21–22 decembrie 1989 din București și Timișoara", Agerpres, 21 December 2019.Memorialul Revoluției din 1989.
The coat of arms in use at the time was perceived as a symbol of Nicolae Ceaușescu's dictatorship and of the Communist era. These flags were called "the flag with the hole" (drapelul cu gaură).
Such flags continue to be seen occasionally during contemporary mass protests, particularly those conducted in reaction to Government misconduct.[photo] Protest anticoruptie in Bucuresti, "Bucurestiul meu drag", March 2017.