Flag of Moldova

The flag of Moldova has three vertical stripes: blue, yellow and red. They are the same colours as those of Romania, and not by chance: the two countries share a language and a history. What distinguishes it is the coat of arms in the centre, where an eagle holds the head of an aurochs, a wild ox that no longer exists.

How it came about

Much of present-day Moldova belonged to Romania between 1918 and 1940. After that it became part of the Soviet Union as one of its republics, with red flags like the rest of the country.

In the late 1980s, many Moldovans called for recovering their language and their symbols. On 27 April 1990, still inside the Soviet Union, the parliament of the republic approved the blue, yellow and red tricolour. A few months later the coat of arms was added to it, the work of the artist Gheorghe Vrabie, so that it would not be identical to the Romanian one. In 1991 Moldova declared itself independent and kept this flag.

How it has changed

Moldova went from the Soviet flags to the tricolour in very little time.

1. 

   1941-1952

   As a Soviet republic, it uses a red flag with the hammer and sickle and the initials of the republic.

2. 

   1952-1990

   A horizontal green stripe appears and, over the hammer and sickle, a star.

3. 

   April-November 1990

   The plain tricolour is approved, the same as the Romanian one except for the shade of the blue.

4. 

   1990

   The coat of arms is added on the yellow stripe. In 2010 a law fixes the exact colours and puts the coat of arms on the reverse as well.

What it means

The law does not explain the colours, which Moldova shares with Romania. The meaning lies in the coat of arms:

• Aurochs head

  the symbol of the old principality of Moldavia, which already appeared on its medieval arms.

• Star, rose and moon

  they accompany the aurochs, as on those old arms.

• Eagle with a cross in its beak

  it comes from the interwar coat of arms of Romania and recalls the Christian roots of the country.

• Olive branch and sceptre

  the peace and the authority of the state.

Fun facts

1. A bull of legend

   According to the medieval chronicles, Prince Dragoș arrived in these lands pursuing an aurochs and, after hunting it down, decided to stay. It is a legend, but it explains why the animal ended up on the coat of arms.

2. Livestock on the flag

   It is one of only two national flags with livestock on them; the other is that of Andorra, which bears two cows.

3. Two different faces

   Until 2010 the reverse bore no coat of arms, so the flag looked different depending on which side you viewed it from.

4. A monastic blue

   Its designers chose a bluer, greener shade than the Romanian one, inspired by the murals of the Voroneț monastery.