page_title: History of the flags of Romania
section_title: Tricolor
hierarchical_section_title: History of the flags of Romania / Tricolor
caption_attribution_description: Română: Grupul de manifestanți pentru revoluție la 1848 - acuarelă aflată astăzi la Cabinetul de Stampe al Academiei Române din București.
context_page_description: The colors of the national flag of Romania have a long history, though the association of the three colors only dates to the 18th century. Red, yellow and blue were found on late 16th-century royal grants of Michael the Brave, as well as shields and banners. Thus, the late 13th century Wijbergen armorial shows the coat of arms of the Wallachian ruler Litovoi as consisting of a shield of ten vertically alternating gold-and-red bands, which were the colors of the coat of arms of the Second Bulgarian Empire, of which Wallachia was part. The same two colors, gules and or, also appeared on the late 15th century flag and coat of arms of Moldavia, during the reign of Stephen the Great. Then, from the late 16th century until the mid-17th century, the historical coat of arms of Transylvania gradually developed as a shield party per fess, consisting of a black eagle on blue background in the upper field, a dividing red band in the middle, and seven red towers on golden background in the lower field.
context_section_description: The tricolor was first adopted in Wallachia in 1834, when the reforming domnitor Alexandru II Ghica submitted naval and military colors designs for the approval of Sultan Mahmud II. The latter was a "flag with a red, blue and yellow face, also having stars and a bird’s head in the middle". Soon, the order of colors was changed, with yellow appearing in the center. When the flags were handed over for use, Ghica remarked:
  The flags of this divinely preserved land have since antiquity been the pride of its soldiers and the symbols of its glory ... The Romanian militia, organized on the basis of European rules and discipline, once again secures this ancient right and receives its flags with the national colors and the principality’s eagle. My Lordship now entrusts to the infantry battalions and the cavalry divisions these flags as a sacred repository of gratitude, faith and obedience to the established laws...
  In 1840, in order to differentiate the military colors from the war flag, Ghica adopted a new design for the former: a red-yellow-blue tricolor, with red on top and stripes of equal width. In the center was a white shield bordered with gold and decorated with the Wallachian eagle, wearing the princely crown and with a cross in its beak.
  In 1848, the flag adopted for Wallachia by the revolutionaries that year was 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, Romanian students in Paris were hailing the new government with a blue, gold and red national flag, "as a symbol of union between Moldavians and Muntenians". 
  Decree nr. 1 of 14/26 June 1848 of the provisional government mentioned that "the National Flag will have three colors: blue, yellow, red", emblazoned with the words "DPEПTATE ФPЪЦIE" (Dreptate, Frăţie or "Justice, Fraternity", in the Romanian transitional alphabet). It differed from earlier tricolors in that the blue stripe was on top, the princely symbol was eliminated from the corners, as was the crown atop the eagle at the end of the flagpole, while a motto was now present. These flags were blessed the following day, being intended for use by the National Guard. Today only the Slatina city guard's flag survives. On the blue stripe appear the words  (Frăţie Dreptate or "Fraternity, Justice"), on the yellow —  (Judeţul Oltŭ or "Olt County") and on the red —  (Oraşul Slatina or "The City of Slatina"). It is 124 centimeter long and 110 centimeter wide. The existence of similar flags is confirmed by records, which in some cases even mention the manufacturer's price. Thus, the police observer's flag (made of chalon or cloth friezed on both sides) and that of the Bucharest dorobanţi detachment (made of Tibet wool) together cost 192 lei and 10 parale. Decree nr. 5 of 18 June ordered garrisons to store old flags in warehouses: "it being necessary to change flags, new flags will soon be sent to you". On 25 June, General Christian Tell asked the provisional government to approve the manufacture of six flags (three for the infantry and three for the cavalry), following which they would be "submitted to the provisional government for approval". His request was granted on 11 July, though the flags were not distributed until 11 September, in a solemn ceremony. On 30 June, Metropolitan Neofit, as prime minister, gave the following disposition: "the standards of liberty will be raised on all buildings, and the insignia will be carried". These symbols were widely employed in demonstrations and raised on public buildings, boats, warships, etc.
  Nevertheless, decree nr. 252 of 13/25 July 1848, issued because "it has not [yet] been agreed how the national standards should be designed", defined the flag as three vertical stripes, possibly influenced by the French model. The shades were "dark blue, light yellow and carmine red"; as for order, "near the wood comes blue, then yellow and then red fluttering".
  Petre Vasiliu-Năsturel observes that from a heraldic point of view, on the French as well as the revolutionary W
caption: 1848 Tricolor inscribed "Dreptate, Frăţie": watercolor by C. Petrescu
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