por The romania flag It has its origins in the 19th century, when the country’s rebels confronted the government using a flag similar to the one the country uses today. Although the design of the Romanian flag has changed several times, it has always kept the same colors.
It has its origin in the colors that the country used during the first centuries of the past millennium. The region now known as Wallachia in Romania used a red, yellow and blue coat of arms in the Middle Ages and is thought to be where the current design of the flag originated.
[toc]
History
Flag of the Revolution of 1848
The Revolution of 1848, also called the Wallachian Revolution, was a Romanian social movement that developed throughout the country, but mainly in the southern region of Wallachia. It was one of the many European revolutions that occurred in 1848, the year in which the continent was struck by social movements throughout its entire length.
They wanted to eliminate, with this revolution, the government of the country that had been imposed by the Russian Empire, to declare Romania as an independent country. The rebels used the blue, yellow and red tricolor with the inscription «Fraternity and Justice» in its central part. The tone of the flag was not the same as the current one, but the design was the same.
First flag of the Principality of Romania (1859-1866)
In 1859, the country was united under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, who was recognized as the Prince of Wallachia. In fact, Wallachia and Moldavia were two independently administered principalities, but Alexandru Ioan Cuza took steps to unify the government of both countries, leading to the creation of the Principality of Romania in 1859.
The country adopted the tricolor flag that was always representative of the colors of Wallachia, with a horizontal order instead of a vertical one and without a coat of arms.
Second flag of the Principality of Romania (1866-1881)
The new constitution of 1866 was drawn up under the supervision of Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who was the second prince of Romania and who ruled until the creation of the kingdom a few years later. The new constitution was also in force until 1881, when the country’s pecking order was rearranged and the flag was changed again.
Flag of the Kingdom of Romania (1881-1947)
Romania was organized as a kingdom from 1881, when Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen became known as Carol I of Romania. For the entire existence of the Principality, Romania had been under the tutelage of the Ottoman Turks, but in 1877, the country joined Russia to fight the Ottomans and win its independence.
The Russo-Romanian victory caused the country to gain its autonomy and break away from Turkey. The decision was made to organize the country into a monarchy and the vertical tricolor flag was established as the official flag of the country. It lasted until after World War II.
First flag of the Romanian People’s Republic (1948)
The People’s Republic of Romania was a state created after the end of World War II. After the end of the war, the European territorial order was in an extremely precarious state and the continent in ruins. During the war, Romania lost a lot of territory and was even occupied by the Soviets at the end of the 40s.
When the Soviets liberated Romania, the country was already heavily influenced by their presence and the ideas of communism. Although the Kingdom of Romania was reestablished for a couple of years, the king was forced to abandon his position due to the influence of communism in the country.
Thus, in 1948 the People’s Republic of Romania was established and the country came to be managed by the Romanian Communist Party hand in hand with the Soviet Union.
The flag remained the same as that of the kingdom, but with a shield in the middle referring to the communist system, with a tractor surrounded by wheat and the initials of the new country at the top.
Second flag of the People’s Republic of Romania (1948 – 1952)
The second design of the flag became a bit more vivid, thus incorporating green into the shield and rearranging the way the flag expands across the bottom of the wheat. The design of the flag did not change, only its shield.
Third flag of the People’s Republic of Romania (1952 – 1965)
The third change to the Romanian flag was the addition of the Soviet Socialist star at the top of the shield. This design remained the same as that of 1948, with the same distribution of stripes and with the same shield.
Last flag of communist Romania (1965 – 1989)
The last modification that was made to the Romanian flag under the influence of communism was the incorporation of the name of the country in the lower part of the shield. It is presumed that this was done with the intention of promoting nationalist propaganda, making the people feel more identified with the national flag.
Revolution of 1989 and reinstatement of the flag of the Empire (since 1989)
The 1989 Revolution was a period of civil conflict in which the people of Romania rose up against the government to remove the communist regime from the country. Civilians protested with Romanian flags with the communist shield cut out.
A military court sentenced the Romanian leaders to death, and they were executed on Christmas 1989. This was the last execution to be carried out in Romania and the one that led to the creation of the Republic of Romania the same year, also restoring the flag before of the empire without the shield in the center, being the banner that the country maintains until today.
Meaning
The flag is based on the medieval coat of arms of the Principality of Wallachia, but each color also has symbolic meaning within Romanian culture. Blue is the color that represents freedom, while yellow represents justice and red is a representation of brotherhood that unites the nation.
References
Flag of Romania, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
History of Romania, Wikipedia, 2019. Taken from Wikipedia.org
Flag of Romania, Wikipedia, 2019. Taken from Wikipedia.org
Flag of Romania, Flag Makers UK Website, (nd). Taken from flagmakers.co.uk
Romania Flag Meaning, World Population Review Website, (nd). Taken from worldpopulationreview.com