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Moldova

by mark sensen 27-DEC-1995

Presentation of Moldova
Colors in Moldovian Flag
Moldovian Coat of Arms

See also:

Presentation of Moldova

Full name: Republic of Moldova
Location: Eastern Europe
Status: Internationally recognized independent state since 27 August 1991. Member of the UN and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Notes: This region, historically known as Bessarabia, has changed hands many times. After being Turkish for many years, it became Russian in 1810. In 1917 it proclaimed independence, before joining Romania in 1918. In 1940, under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, it once became Soviet. The territory was joined to the pre-existing Moldavian ASSR, a Soviet fiction carved out of Ukraine which in fact had very few 'Moldavians' (ie Romanians) living there*, and became the Moldavian SSR on 2 August 1940. From 1941 until 1944 Romania, allied to the Axis Powers, once again ruled Bessarabia.

Post war, the Soviets created a largely artificial 'Moldavian' language (largely accomplished by transcribing Romanian from the Latin alphabet into Cyrillic) and sought to encourage the creation of a separate Moldavian nation. This fiction could not disguise the fact that the Moldavians are essentially Romanian, and although Moldova's initially expressed aspiration of union with Romania is now much more muted, the Moldovan flag is basically that of Romania with the addition of the national coat of arms on the yellow stripe.

* This is the basis of the dispute between the modern Republic of Moldova and the self-styled Dniestr Republic (qv), the largely Slavic populated eastern region.

stuart notholt 05-OCT-1995

Colors in Moldovian Flag

Romania/Moldova adopted a flag in the three colours during the revolutions of 1848 which drew inspiration (and vexillology) from the French revolution.

stuart notholt 10-OCT-1995

I believe the colours are a combination of those of Moldavia (the Rumanian bit, not Bessarabia-now-called-Moldova) and Wallachia, though I couldn' tell you which is which.

roy stilling 10-OCT-1995

Moldovian Coat of Arms

From what I have read (Encyclypedia Americana's flag article, written by Whitney Smith) the coat of arms is an eagle holding a cross in its beak and an olive branch and septer in its claws. On top of the eagle is a shield "perfess" (split in half horizontally) red on top and blue below, with a stylized ox head over all between a rose and a cresent.
The eagle is from the old Romainian coat of arms, and ultimatly from Byzantium, the ox head represents the old province of Bessarabia, the cross is obviously christian, the septer and olive branch are probably for soverignity and peace, as for the flower and cresent I have no Idea.

james dignan

Moldovian symbols also appear in the coat of army of Romania.

giuseppe bottasini