Flag of Moldova
Moldova’s flag has three vertical bands of blue, yellow and red, blue by the pole, with the coat of arms on the yellow: an eagle holding a gold cross in its beak, an olive branch and a sceptre, with a red and blue shield on its breast bearing a gold aurochs head. The constitution gives the colours no meaning; Store norske leksikon says the olive branch stands for peace and the sceptre for sovereignty.
Easily confused with
- Flag of AndorraAndorra’s flag has three vertical bands, blue by the pole, yellow and red, with the coat of arms on the yellow. The flag law describes the colours without giving them a meaning; the arms join those of the principality’s two co-princes, the Bishop of Urgell and the Counts of Foix, with those of Catalonia and Béarn, under the motto “Virtus unita fortior” (“united virtue is stronger”), Store norske leksikon says.
- Flag of RomaniaRomania’s flag has three vertical bands of blue, yellow and red, blue by the pole, as the constitution describes it. No law gives the colours a meaning; the traditional reading, Digi24 says, is blue for freedom, yellow for prosperity and justice, and red for the courage and sacrifice of those who fought for the country.
- Flag of ChadChad’s blue, gold and red bands carry no coat of arms.
How to read it
Article 12 of the constitution says the state flag is a tricolour, blue, yellow and red in vertical bands from the flagpole, with the coat of arms on the central yellow stripe. The flag law, Law No. 217 of 17 September 2010, as the Presidency quotes it, makes the flag twice as long as it is high (1:2), divided into three equal vertical bands, with the arms in the middle of the yellow, their width a fifth of the flag’s length. Its annex gives the colours as Berlin blue, chrome yellow and vermilion, defined in Pantone, CMYK and RGB, Store norske leksikon says. The Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted the flag on 27 April 1990, and 27 April is the State Flag Day.
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Moldova’s and Romania’s flags side by side
Both are blue, yellow and red in vertical bands, blue by the pole: Romania’s constitution describes its own flag that way too. Moldova’s has the coat of arms on the yellow and is twice as long as it is high; Romania’s flag has no arms and is 3 by 2, Store norske leksikon says. The two nearly identical flags come from a shared past, the encyclopedia explains: today’s Moldova and the Romanian region of Moldavia were one principality in the Middle Ages, and most people in Moldova speak Romanian.
Chad’s flag is blue, gold and red in equal vertical bands, and Andorra’s has its own arms on a yellow band an eighth wider than the other two.
The coat of arms piece by piece
The constitution describes the shield as divided across, red over blue, with a gold aurochs head bearing an eight-pointed star between its horns, flanked by a five-petalled rose and a crescent, all in gold. The shield is on the breast of an eagle in its natural colours, holding a gold cross in its beak, a green olive branch in its right claw and a gold sceptre in its left. The present arms are set by Law No. 32 of 7 March 2013.
The aurochs head has been Moldavia’s emblem since the Middle Ages, borne by Prince Petru II in 1387, Store norske leksikon says. The eagle was borrowed from Wallachia, Moldavia’s twin principality, whose emblem it had been since the Middle Ages. Moldova chose gold for the head and both red and blue for the shield, colours with a long history there, so that the arms carry the colours of the flag.
Read next
- Next in European flagsFlag of RomaniaRomania’s flag has three vertical bands of blue, yellow and red, blue by the pole, as the constitution describes it. No law gives the colours a meaning; the traditional reading, Digi24 says, is blue for freedom, yellow for prosperity and justice, and red for the courage and sacrifice of those who fought for the country.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of AngolaAngola’s flag is red over black with a yellow emblem in the centre: part of a cogwheel, a machete and a five-pointed star. Its constitution says the red is the blood shed by Angolans under colonial oppression, in the liberation struggle and in defence of the country, and the black is the African continent; the cogwheel stands for workers and industry, the machete for peasants, farming and the armed struggle, the star for international solidarity and progress, and their yellow for the country’s wealth.
More european flags
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines or squares and rectangles.
Sources
- Moldova (Republic of) 1994 (rev. 2024) Constitution, Constitution of the Republic of Moldova of 1994 (rev. 2024), Article 12 (English translation), Constitute Project, Article 12
- Drapelul de Stat al Republicii Moldova (Președinția Republicii Moldova), Presidency of the Republic of Moldova, “Drapelul de Stat”, quoting Law No. 217 of 17 September 2010, Presidency of the Republic of Moldova, Drapelul de Stat
- Stema de Stat a Republicii Moldova (Președinția Republicii Moldova), Presidency of the Republic of Moldova, “Stema de Stat”, with Law No. 32 of 7 March 2013, Presidency of the Republic of Moldova, Stema de Stat
- Moldovas flagg og våpen (Store norske leksikon), Lars Roede and Jardar Seim, “Moldovas flagg og våpen”, Store norske leksikon, Store norske leksikon, Flagget; Riksvåpenet
- Romania 1991 (rev. 2003) Constitution, Constitution of Romania of 1991 (rev. 2003), Article 12 (English translation), Constitute Project, Article 12
- Constitution de la République du Tchad (2023), Constitution approved by referendum on 17 December 2023, Article 8 (French text), World Health Organization, Compendium of Public Health Constitutional and Legal Provisions (copy of the official text), Article 8
- Andorras flagg og våpen (Store norske leksikon), Nora Tessem, “Andorras flagg og våpen”, Store norske leksikon, Store norske leksikon, Flagget
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 13, 2026. How we research
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