History of The Flags of Romania - Flags of The Socialist Republic of Romania

Flags of The Socialist Republic of Romania

The Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Romania, adopted in 1965, provided the following in article 118: “The flag of the Socialist Republic of Romania has the colors red, yellow and blue, arranged vertically, with blue near the flagpole. The coat of arms of the Socialist Republic of Romania is affixed to the middle”.

Decree nr. 972 of 5 November 1968 regarding the insignia of the Socialist Republic of Romania (RSR) described in detail the coat of arms, seal, flag and state anthem of the republic. The attached commentary noted that, in the absence of corresponding regulations, “there have appeared mistaken interpretations of these, incorrect or diverging usages of the state insignia”. Chapter IV of the decree is entirely devoted to describing the flag and the protocol for its use. Thus, the flag is defined as having a ratio of 2:3, with the colored stripes of equal dimensions. The regular colors were printed in the annex and not expressly named. The coat of arms was placed in the center; its height was ⅖ the flag’s width. As before, it was provided that the flag’s proportions could differ for ornamental purposes, but the coat of arms must always be in the center, vertical. Articles 13-21 specifically and exhaustively covered flag protocol, describing where it was to be raised permanently and temporarily (art. 13), the protocol for raising it outside the country’s borders (art. 14) and during demonstrations by socialist organizations (art. 15), the conditions for lowering it to half-staff (art. 16, 17 and 18, with art. 20 describing exceptions to the rule), the conditions and manner for draping caskets with the flag (art. 19), as well as the place of the Romanian flag in case it flew besides one or more foreign flags (art. 21).