Romanian flag patch

Size: 6.5 x 4 cm (2.56 x 1.57 inch)

The flag of Romania consists of three equal sized vertical stripes. The left stripe is blue, the middle one yellow and the right stripe is red.

Meaning: The red, yellow and blue stripes represent Moldova and Walachia, the two principalities that united to form Romania in 1859. The colors are found in the coat of arms of these former states.

History: The current Romanian flag was adopted on December 27, 1989. A horizontal red, yellow, blue flag was introduced by nationalists in 1848. In 1861, Romania was established when Walachia and Moldavia united. The new Romanian country adopted a red (top), yellow (middle) and blue (bottom) horizontal striped flag. The Romanian flag was changed to its present vertical design in 1867 after being influenced by the French flag. Romania gained independence from the Ottoman Empire on May 9, 1877 and a year later this was used as the country's national flag. Between 1867 and 1989 the flag had the country's coat of arms in the center of it.

Interesting Facts: There are four countries that use a blue-yellow-red vertical striped flag. They are Moldova, Andorra, Chad and Romania. The Moldovan flag is distinguished by the addition of a coat of arms, but the colors are related to and similarly derived from those of the Romanian flag. The flag of Chad is almost identical to Romania's flag (source: worldflags101).