Today, 27 April 2015, marks the silver jubilee of the flag of Moldova.
The flag is a blue, yellow and red vertical tricolour.
It is almost identical to the flag of neighbouring Romania, reflecting their cultural and national affinity.
Distinguishing the two flags is the central motif of Moldova’s coat of arms.
This comprises a dark golden eagle: its beak holds an Orthodox cross; its claws, a sceptre and olive branch.
On the the eagle’s breast, a red-and-blue shield contains traditional Moldovan symbols: the head of an aurochs, a rose, a crescent and a star.
Two other national flags share a strong resemblance to that of Moldova: Chad and Andorra.
In 1990 the flag’s creators recognised ‘that many countries have similar tricolour flags’, declared Moldovan vexillologist Silviu Andrieş-Tabac in 2003.
‘As a result, it was decided to abandon the ultramarine blue, which is present on the Romanian flag, in favour of the emerald-blue, used on the mural paintings of Voroneţ monastery.’
In 2010 official certification declared that the colours are: ‘Berlin Blue’, ‘Chrome Yellow’ and ‘Vermillion Red’.
This was also a special year for two more reasons.
The first celebrations of Flag Day (also 27 April) took place.
Most importantly, after 20 years as one of the world’s few flags with a different obverse and reverse, Moldova added its coat of arms to the reverse.
Bonus facts: only Paraguay has a national flag with a different obverse and reverse. Moldova adopted its flag while still a member of the Soviet Union.
Author: Alex Crouch, Flag Institute accredited journalist 2015/16.
