The national flag of Romania is a tricolour of three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red. The colours represented here are thought to date far back into Romanian history, but the current incarnation was officially adopted only on December 27 1989. The previous national flag, that of the communist state (1947-1989), contained the then current national coat of arms in the centre yellow band. During the 1989 revolution many flags could be seen that had the communist emblem cut out of them and the subsequent government decided against adding any coat of arms to the flag, similar to the civil ensign during the Kingdom of Romania (1881-1947).
The flag is very similar to the national flag of Moldova, a close neighbour that shares much of its culture and history with Romania. It is identical, however, to the otherwise unrelated national flag of Chad.
