National Flag Day – celebrated. ‘A binder of the past, the present and the future,’ President Iohannis says

The National Flag Day was celebrated on Wednesday in Bucharest, in a festivity hosted by the National Flag Square, in front of the National Military Club Palace, by representatives of the Ministry of Defence, along with the Prefect’s Institution and the Bucharest City Hall.

The event was attended by the Chief of general staff Nicolae Ciuca, MPs, public authorities’ representatives, military attaches and war veterans.

In a message on this occasion, President Klaus Iohannis said “the National Flag is for Romanians everywhere the symbol of identity, sovereignty and national unity. (…) Our flag is the binder between the past, the present and the future and reminds us of the sacrifices made by the entire nation in order to have, today, a democratic and pluralist state, with the human fundamental rights protected, with the rule of law observed.”

The head of state added that we should not forget the responsibility we all have to develop our society. “By celebrating the National Flag, we all have the moral duty to send to the future generations, with our own example, the conscience of belonging to the national values and that patriotism is not the thrill of one celebration, but the assuming of responsibility for Romania’s progress. Dear Romanians, we stand all united to one land, one country and one flag, together we are stronger! Happy Anniversary for Romania and for our flag!” the President message reads.

Tricolour’s history

The tricolour flag was firstly used for the first time in Wallachia in 1834 as a battle flag, when Prince Alexandru Ghica presented to the sultan for approval the model of naval battle flags and pavilions.

A few years later, in 1848, the tricolour flag was adopted by the Revolutionaries as a flag of Wallachia in the following chromatic order: blue-yellow-red, meaning “freedom, justice, brotherhood”.

In fact, the legend of the emergence of the tricolour was born after 1860, when the colours of the Moldavian and Wallachian flags merged, after the unification of the Principalities and the desire to reconcile both parties.

Later, the Romanian Constitution of 1866 provided for the flag: “The colours of the Principalities-Unite are to be Blue, Yellow, and Red.” According to the constitution, the colours of the flag must be placed vertically in the following order: blue, yellow and red at the edge.