History of The Flags of Romania - Romanian Flags Until 1918

Romanian Flags Until 1918

Article 124 of the 1866 Constitution of Romania provided that “the colors of the United Principalities will be Blue, Yellow and Red”. The order and placement of the colors were decided by the Assembly of Deputies in its session of 26 March 1867. Thus, following a proposal by Nicolae Golescu, they were placed just as in 1848. The commission’s work continued on 30 March as well; following an affirmative vote by the Senate, these wrapped up with the adoption, on 12/24 April 1867, of the “Law for fixing the arms of Romania”.

According to this, the flag’s colors had to be placed vertically in the following order: blue hoist, yellow in the middle and red fly. The country’s coat of arms was placed only on army and princely flags, in the center; civilian flags remained without a coat of arms. The same distinction was made between flags for the naval war fleet and the civilian fleet.

The rapporteur Mihail Kogălniceanu, who also conveyed the opinion of Cezar Bolliac, Dimitrie Brătianu, Constantin Grigorescu, Ion Leca, Nicolae Golescu and Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, said: “The tricolor flag as it is today is not (as the minister claims) the flag of the Union of the principalities. It is much more: it is itself the flag of the Romanian nation in all lands inhabited by Romanians”.

The “Law for modifying the country’s arms” of 11/23 March 1872 did not change these provisions, only the design of the coat of arms. The design proposed by Ştefan Dimitrie Grecianu was adopted.