Flag Day of Romania

On 26 June, Romania celebrates its national flag. The flag is hoisted up near public buildings and institutions across the country, and the authorities organise cultural events and educational programs devoted to Romania’s history.

A military ceremony usually compliments the hoisting of the flag in the capital - Bucharest. People attending the event include representatives from civic, military, and religious organisations, as well as war veterans.

Origins of the Romanian flag

The colours of the Romanian flag first appeared in 1834, but not as a national flag, rather, as a flag used to identify merchant ships. In 1848, the flag was adopted by militias in the successful Wallachian Revolution against the Regulamentul Organic regime imposed by the Russian Empire on the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, essentially creating a protectorate.

It is widely accepted that the three colours in the flag stand for the three different provinces of Romania:  

yellow for Wallachia, blue for Moldavia and red for Transylvania.

The blue, gold and red tricolour became the national flag in 1859, however, it has gone through multiple iterations since then. It was at first arranged horizontally until 1867 with blue at the hoist. Then, in 1948, it included a coat of arms that was changed at least 4 times during the country's Communist regime.

The Anti-Ceaușescu protests that erupted by the end of 1989 had the Communist coat of arms cut out in the middle, and the plain tricolour was re-established as Romania’s flag in 1991. In 1998, lawmakers proclaimed Flag Day to be annually observed on 26 June, albeit not as a public holiday, meaning that it is also a regular working day.