The Romani flag or the flag of the Roma ( rom, O styago le romengo, or ''O romanko flako'') is the international

ethnic flag An ethnic flag is a flag that symbolizes a certain ethnic group. Ethnic flags are often introduced to the ethnic community through the respective cultural or political ethnic movements. They are popular among diasporas, ethnic minorities, and so ...

of the

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

, historically known as "Gypsies", which form a stateless minority in countries across

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecolo ...

. It was approved by the representatives of various Romani communities at the first and second World Romani Congresses (WRC), in 1971 and 1978. The flag consists of a background of blue and green, representing the heavens and earth, respectively; it also contains a 16-spoke red ''

dharmachakra The dharmachakra (Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र; Pali: ''dhammacakka'') or wheel of dharma is a widespread symbol used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and especially Buddhism.John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, ''The Circle o ...

'', or cartwheel, in the center. The latter element stands for the itinerant tradition of the Romani people and is also an homage to the

flag of India The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form d ...

, added to the flag by scholar

Weer Rajendra Rishi Weer Rajendra Rishi (September 23, 1917 – December 1, 2002
Rishi Roma) was an Indian

. It superseded a number of tribal emblems and banners, several of which evoked claims of Romani descent from the Ancient Egyptians. Older Romani symbolism comprises insignia reflecting occupational and tribal divisions, as well

totem A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage (anthropology), lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan ...

s and

pictogram A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and g ...

s. In some cases, Romani "Kings" and "Princes" were also integrated within the European heraldic tradition with coats of arms of their own. As a result of this synthesis, "Egyptians" became visually associated with heraldic animals, including the

adder Adder may refer to: * AA-12 Adder, a Russian air-to-air missile * Adder (electronics), an electronic circuit designed to do addition * Adder Technology, a manufacturing company * Armstrong Siddeley Adder, a late 1940s British turbojet engine * ''B ...

and, in the 19th century, the

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduct ...

. Around 1890, affiliates of the

Gypsy Lore Society The Gypsy Lore Society was founded in Great Britain in 1888 to unite persons interested in the history and lore of Gypsies and rovers and to establish closer contacts among scholars studying aspects of such cultures. History David MacRitchie w ...

had deduced that a tricolor of red-yellow-black was preferred by the Spanish Romanies, and embraced it as a generic Romani symbol. In the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

at large, corporate representation was granted to the Gypsy ''

esnaf Esnaf is a Turkish word which means “corporation”. During the Early Modern Period belonging to a guild gave people a voice and was an important part of one's identity. Handicraft producers were linked to one another by a range of social, poli ...

''—which preceded the creation of modern professional unions, all of which had their own seals or flags. The first stages of identity politics in the 20th century saw the emergence of Romani political groups, but their designs remained attached those of more dominant

cultural nationalism Cultural nationalism is nationalism in which the nation is defined by a shared culture and a common language, rather than on the concepts of common ancestry or race. Cultural nationalism does not tend to manifest itself in independent movements, ...

s in their respective country. Into the interwar era, the various and competing Romani flags were mostly based on

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

, or Islamic symbolism. The 1971 flag claimed to revive a plain blue-green bicolor, reportedly created by activist

Gheorghe A. Lăzăreanu-Lăzurică Gheorghe A. Lăzăreanu-Lăzurică or George Lăzurică, also known as Lăzărescu-Lăzurică or Lăzărică (1892 – ?), was a leader of the Romani (Gypsy) community in Romania, also remembered for his support of Romania's interwar far-right. O ...

in interwar

Greater Romania The term Greater Romania ( ro, România Mare) usually refers to the borders of the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union. It also refers to a pan-nationalist idea. As a concept, its main goal is the creatio ...

. This design had been endorsed in the 1950s by Ionel Rotaru, who also claimed it as a flag for an independent settlement area, or " Romanestan". A tricolor version, flown by survivors of the

Romani genocide The Romani Holocaust or the Romani genocide—also known as the ''Porajmos'' (Romani pronunciation: , meaning "the Devouring"), the ''Pharrajimos'' meaning the hard times ("Cutting up", "Fragmentation", "Destruction"), and the ''Samudaripen'' (" ...

, fell out of use due to allegations that it stood for

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society ...

. Rishi's definitive variant of 1978, with the added wheel, gained in popularity over the late 20th century; it is especially associated with groups which are advocating the transnational unity of the Romani people and combating its designation as "Gypsies". This flag was promoted by actor

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the ...

, writer

Ronald Lee Ronald Lee (1934January 25, 2020) was a Romani Canadian writer, linguist, professor, folk musician, and activist. He studied Romani society and culture and worked to foster intercultural dialogue between Roma and Non-Roma. Early life and educat ...

, and violinist

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

, and it was also adopted by "King" Florin Cioabă. It was especially popular in

Socialist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

, which awarded it official recognition upon its adoption. The WRC Congress never provided specifications for the flag, which exists in various versions and has many derivatives, including national flags defaced with Rishi's ''dharmachakra''. Several countries and communities have officially recognized it during the 2010s, but its display has also sparked controversy in various parts of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

. Derivatives were also widely used in Romani political symbolism during the same period. However, inside the scholarly community, the Romani flag has been criticized as a

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western wo ...

symbol, and its display as a perfunctory solution to issues which are faced by the ethnic group which it represents. It has continuously been rejected by various Romani tribes, as well as by the

Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians The Ashkali ( sr, Ашкалије, Aškalije), also Hashkali ( sr, Хашкалије, Haškalije), and Balkan Egyptians ( sr, Балкански Египћани, Balkanski Egipćani; sq, Komuniteti i Egjiptianëve të Ballkanit; mk, Ѓуп� ...

, who form a distinct ethnicity.

History

Original symbols

Scholar Konstantin Stoyanovitch notes that Romani subgroups, such as the ''

Lovari Lovari ("horse-dealer", from Hungarian "ló", ''horse'') is a subgroup of the Romani people, who speak their own dialect, influenced by Hungarian and West Slavic dialects. They live predominantly throughout Central Europe (Hungary, Poland, Sl ...

'', traditionally employed a set of quasi-heraldic symbols: "Each tribe asits own emblem or marking, the equivalent of a flag. This sign consists of a small piece of wood bearing some notches, or a piece of fabric or threads of various colors, or even a branch torn off the tribe's favorite tree, a tree it considered to be its own (sort of like a totem). It is only shown within the limits of a territory only used for a certain group's travels." Romanies, along with the various other "traveling people" of Europe, used "rudimentary hieroglyphs" to mark their territories; art historian Amanda Wasielewski suggests that such practices survive in the "international squatters' symbol", which is indirectly based on "gypsy symbols or rogue signs". Travel writer

George Borrow George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...

likened the secretive tribal folklore, or "Gipsyism", to

Masonic ritual and symbolism Masonic ritual is the scripted words and actions that are spoken or performed during the degree work in a Masonic lodge. Masonic symbolism is that which is used to illustrate the principles which Freemasonry espouses. Masonic ritual has appeared ...

. Borrow listed tents, hammers, tongs, tin kettles, creels, and cuddies as some of the Romanies' "banners and mottoes". A late-18th-century etching by Francis Wheatley shows the "genuine dwellings of English Gypsies of that date", alongside a "strange object hung on a pole". This is tentatively identified as a

drag harrow A drag harrow, a type of spring-tooth harrow, is a largely outdated type of soil cultivation implement that is used to smooth the ground as well as loosen it after it has been plowed and packed. It uses many flexible iron teeth usually arra ...

, suggesting that the camp was one of "smiths, who made or repaired such tools." Within Romani encampments, the usage of cloth markers extends to the practice of segregating menstruating women and their garments. Anthropologist Judith Okely proposes that "the tea towel hanging separately to dry on a line becomes a flag of ethnic purity". A specific flag (''steagu''), fashioned from white scarf and red ribbon tied to a willow rod, appears during '' Gurban'' festival as practiced by the '' Boyash'' of

Grebenac Grebenac (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Гребенац, Romanian language, Romanian: ''Grebenaț'') is a village in Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated in the Bela Crkva (Vojvodina), Bela Crkva municipality, in the South Banat Dist ...

. Folklorist David MacRitchie, building on ethnological observations made

Heinrich von Wlislocki Heinrich Adalbert von Wlislocki ( Hungarian: ''Wlislocki Henrik''; born 9 July 1856 in Kronstadt; died 19 February 1907 in Klosdorf bei Kleinkopisch, now in Șona) was a Transylvanian linguist and folklorist. The son of an ethnically Polish A ...

among the Hungarian Romanies, notes the existence of an established tradition in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephe ...

, where tribal chiefs, oftentimes styled as " Kings of Egypt/of the Gypsies", wore "the serpent engraved on the silver buttons on their coats". MacRitchie speculates that the three adders on a shield at Nunraw armorial, in the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a ...

, may therefore connect to John Faa and the Scottish Romanichal. In the 1860s, John's nominal descendant, Esther Faa Blythe of Kirk Yetholm, used a tinsel

coronet A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara doe ...

with the

Scottish thistle ''Onopordum acanthium'' (cotton thistle, Scotch (or Scottish) thistle, not to be confused with ''Cirsium vulgare'' - spear thistle, which is also known as Scotch or Scottish thistle and is the national flower of Scotland. Spear thistle is nat ...

. Several 15th-century sources report the existence of heraldic symbols associated with nomadic "Gypsy Princes" from the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. One such figure, named Panuel, used a crowned golden eagle, while another one, Bautma, had a complex coat of arms, incorporating a

scimitar A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...

and a crowned rooster; both figures also used hounds as their heraldic animal, with Panuel's being a

badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fi ...

. A 1498 epitaph at

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...

commemorates a ''

Freigraf Freigraf is a title of Germany nobility. It is derived from the German words ''frei'' ("free") and the feudal title ''graf'' ("count"). It can be used in two different contexts: #A feudal count with an unusually extended title (which may express ...

'' of "Little Egypt", in fact a Romani tribal leader. His attached coat of arms has the star and crescent in combination with the stag. In

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

and

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centra ...

, where they were kept as princely slaves, Romani craftsmen were directly involved in fabricating heraldic seals, albeit of a rudimentary kind. At the turn of the 18th century, the disunity and symbolic disorder of Romani tribes was a subject matter in

Ion Budai-Deleanu Ion Budai-Deleanu (January 6, 1760 – August 24, 1820) was a Romanian scholar, philologist, historian, poet, and a representative of the Transylvanian School. He was born in Csigmó (today Cigmău), a village in the town of Algyógy (today Geoa ...

's mock-epic, ''

Țiganiada ''Țiganiada'' is a Romanian epic poem written by the poet and scholar Ion Budai-Deleanu, the first epic poem written in the Romanian language. Țiganiada treats an allegorical subject with satirical tendencies, antifeudal and anticlerical ...

''. A Romanian proto-nationalist of the

Transylvanian School The Transylvanian School ( ro, Școala Ardeleană) was a cultural movement which was founded after part of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Habsburg-ruled Transylvania accepted the leadership of the pope and became the Greek-Catholic Church (). The ...

, Budai probably hinted at political disentanglement within his own ethnic community; ''Țiganiada'' shows Gypsies marking under numerous

vexilloid A vexilloid is any flag-like (vexillary) object used by countries, organisations, or individuals as a form of representation other than flags. American vexillologist Whitney Smith coined the term ''vexilloid'' in 1958, defining it as This inc ...

s: a shovel for the ''Boyash'', a copper tray for the ''

Kalderash The Kalderash are a subgroup of the Romani people. They were traditionally coppersmiths and metal workers and speak a number of Romani dialects grouped together under the term Kalderash Romani, a sub-group of Vlax Romani. The Kalderash of the ...

'', a stuffed crow for the ''Argintari'', and a red sieve, painted on white rawhide leather, for the ''Ciurari''. In the 1830s, the English philanthropist James Crabb recalled meeting a Romani

fortune-teller Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical wi ...

, whose saddle was "literally studded with silver; for she carried on it the emblems of her profession wrought in that metal; namely, a half-moon, seven stars, and the rising sun." A group of '' Ursari'' captured in 1872 at

Fribourg , Location of , Location of () () or , ; or , ; gsw, label=Swiss German, Frybùrg ; it, Friburgo or ; rm, Friburg. is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), ...

reportedly wore red bonnets. By that stage, some Romani symbols had embraced more than tribal groups. These include a red banner carried by Turkish Romanies, all of whom belonged to a special ''

'' (guild) of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Gypsies also served the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

Serbian Vojvodina The Serbian Vojvodina ( sr, Српска Војводина / ) was a short-lived self-proclaimed Serb autonomous province within the Austrian Empire during the Revolutions of 1848, which existed until 1849 when it was transformed into the new (o ...

during 1848, when they reportedly wore "colourful garbs" and carried their own banners. A banner of the Kosovar Gypsies, dating from 1849, is still preserved in

Prizren ) , settlement_type = Municipality and city , image_skyline = Prizren Collage.jpg , imagesize = 290px , image_caption = View of Prizren , image_alt = View of Prizren , image_flag ...

. British traditions tended to regard combinations of yellow and red, or yellow-red-black as "Gypsy". An English, non-Romani, cricket club called ''

I Zingari I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the ' ...

'' ("The Gypsies") was established in 1845, with red, yellow (or gold), and black as its colors. "The oldest extant club colours in the UK", these had a contextual meaning, symbolizing the "coming out of darkness, through fire, and into light." In 1890, one unnamed member of the

(GLS) proposed that the European Gypsies were generally using red and yellow as their distinctive colors. He noted their recurrence in both the Romani folk dress and ''I Zingari''

kits Kits may refer to: *Kitsilano, a neighbourhood of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada *Kits, an American taffy candy made by Gilliam Candy Company * KITS, a San Francisco, California radio station * Kottayam Institute of Technology & S ...

, as well as the identification of "red and yellow for Romany" in one English rhyme. The same source rendered the words of a " Romany chal in Spain", according to whom there was a "tacit recognition" of red-yellow-black as a tribal tricolor; in that instance, the former two colors also replicated the Spanish red-weld. David MacRitchie, "Notes and Queries. Gypsy Colours", in ''

Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society ''Romani Studies'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering all aspects of Romani/Gypsy studies. It is the official journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. It was established in 1888 and until 1982 was published as the ''Journal of the ...

'', Vol. II, Issue 1, January 1890, p. 60 The tricolor scheme had by then appeared on the cover of Borrow's ''Romany Vocabulary'', printed in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for GLS use (1889).Katy Hooper
''Picturing Gypsies. An exhibition from the Gypsy Lore Society archive and Scott Macfie Gypsy collections mounted in the University Art Gallery, 4 September–6 October 2000 in association with The Role of the Romanies conference at the University of Liverpool, 17–20 September 2000''

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

Special Collections & Archives, September 2000 MacRitchie placed doubt on this claim, noting that in earlier testimonies by Walter Simson the colors of Scottish Romani costumes are depicted as primarily green. In a 1907 report for the GLS,

James Yoxall Sir James Henry Yoxall (15 July 1857 – 2 February 1925) was a British Liberal Party politician and trade unionist. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nottingham West from 1895 to 1918. He was General Secretary of the National Union of ...

briefly discussed "why yellow is so much a Gypsy colour". Yoxall hypothesized that a "distinctive hue" may have been forced "upon the wanderers of the roads" in medieval times, the same as

yellow badge Yellow badges (or yellow patches), also referred to as Jewish badges (german: Judenstern, lit=Jew's star), are badges that Jews were ordered to wear at various times during the Middle Ages by some caliphates, at various times during the Mediev ...

s had been imposed on Jews. Writing a year later, MacRitchie noted the "Gypsy colours of Spain" as used on Andrew McCormick's monograph of ''The Tinkler-Gypsies''. He credited "the late Lord Lilford" as the ultimate source for the information published by the GLS in 1890. In

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, all Gypsies were informally attributed a "coat of arms" displaying the

. This was first used by Archduke Joseph Karl on his 1886 treatise, ''Czigány nyelvtan'' (where the animal is shown "with a twig in its mouth"),"Napi hírek. A cigányok faj-cimere", in ''Pesti Hírlap'', May 5, 1886, p. 5 and later etched into

János Bihari János Bihari (21 October 1764 – 26 April 1827) was an influential Hungarian Romani violinist. He is one of the founders of Romani academic music and the musical genre verbunkos. By the middle of the nineteenth century, "Gypsy music" ...

's monument on

Margaret Island Margaret Island ( hu, Margitsziget ; german: Margareteninsel; tr, Kızadası) is a long island, wide, ( in area) in the middle of the Danube in central Budapest, Hungary. The island is mostly covered by landscape parks, and is a popular recrea ...

. The selection was validated by scholar Emil Ponori Thewrewk, who argued that the hedgehog was an "emblem shared by all the Gypsies", adding: "Gypsies from different countries distinguish themselves with hedgehogs that hold various cones or leaves (namely pine cones, birch or hawthorn leaves) in its mouth." In 1888, Orientalist

Wilhelm Solf Wilhelm Heinrich Solf (5 October 1862 – 6 February 1936) was a German scholar, diplomat, jurist and statesman. Early life Solf was born into a wealthy and liberal family in Berlin. He attended secondary schools in Anklam, western Pomerania, an ...

described the "peculiar organisation of the Gypsies" in the German Empire. According to Solf, the tribal "captains" of the German Romanies each kept an "official seal, upon which a hedgehog is engraved—a beast held as sacred by all the Gypsies"; similarly, all groups favored the color green, symbolic of "honour"."Notes and Queries. Dr. Solf on the German Gypsies", in ''

'', Vol. I, Issue 1, July 1888, pp. 50–51 There were three German Gypsy tribes, named for their respective area: Old Prussia, which carried a black-and-white flag defaced with a fir tee; New Prussia—green-and-white, with a birch tree; and

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

—gold-blue-white with a mulberry tree. GLS folklorist Friedrich Wilhelm Brepohl noted in 1911 that "Gypsy Princes" in Switzerland and elsewhere had coats of arms depicting "either a hedgehog, which is the gypsy's favorite animal, or a magpie—the sacred bird of the gypsies." Guild organization was meanwhile maintained in the post-Ottoman

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria ( bg, Княжество България, Knyazhestvo Balgariya) was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War e ...

—an association of Bulgarian Romani porters was set up in 1901; its flag is also preserved. In 1910,

Vidin Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...

became home to the first-ever civic organization for Romanies (still describing themselves as the "Egyptian Nation" or "

Copts Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are ...

"). Its emblem showed Saint George slaying a crocodile, which, the group explained, was symbolic of Christianity vanquishing

Egyptian paganism Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian culture. It centered on the Egyptians' interactions with many deities believed to be present in, and in contro ...

. File:Wheatley's etching of the Gypsy drag harrow.png, Detail of Francis Wheatley's etching, showing the

as a purported Gypsy symbol File:Arms of the Freigraf of Little Egypt, Pforzheim armorial.svg, Arms of the ''

'' of "Little Egypt" in the

armorial File:David MacRitchie - King of Egypt arms at Nunraw, 1892.png, David MacRitchie's reproduction of the "King of Egypt" arms in Nunraw File:'Gypsy colours of Spain' in the 1890s, according to Baron Lilford.svg, "Gypsy colours of Spain", as reported by Lord Lilford File:Arms of the Gypsies (Czigány czimer), from Archduke Joseph Karl's Czigány nyelvtan (1888).svg, Gypsy hedgehog emblem, as popularized by Archduke Joseph Karl

''Romany Zoria'', UGRR, and the Kwieks

The emergence Romani nationalism after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

coincided roughly with the spread of communism and the proclamation of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Groups which embraced both ideals also replicated

communist symbolism Communist symbolism represents a variety of themes, including revolution, the proletariat, peasantry, agriculture, or international solidarity. Communist states, parties and movements use these symbols to advance and create solidarity within t ...

. One early case was the

Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria ( bg, Царство България, translit=Tsarstvo Balgariya), also referred to as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom ( bg, Трето Българско Царство, translit=Treto Balgarsko Tsarstvo, links=no), someti ...

, where left-wing Romanies established in 1920 an ''Egypt'' society, functioning as a branch of the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...

. This organization adopted a "wine-red flag". In 1923, a small group of Russian Romanies appeared at the

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

parade in

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical bui ...

, holding up a banner inscribed with the message: " Gypsy Workers of the World, Unite!" ''Romany Zoria'' appeared in late 1927 as a Soviet propaganda journal aimed at the Romani community, and aiming for their complete sedentarization as proletarians. It repeated the slogan, and published illustrations of the Romanies trampling on symbols of their nomadic lifestyle—primarily including the cartwheel. In the early 1930s,

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

authorities envisaged colonizing Soviet Romanies and

Assyrians Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

"in compact groups to form

heir own Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially ...

national territories" along the border; a blueprint for this policy was set by the

Jewish Autonomous Oblast The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO; russian: Евре́йская автоно́мная о́бласть, (ЕАО); yi, ייִדישע אװטאָנאָמע געגנט, ; )In standard Yiddish: , ''Yidishe Oytonome Gegnt'' is a federal subject ...

, as the home of a sizable Romani minority (including formerly Hungarian Romani communities in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...

), witnessed some of the first manifestations of Romani nationalism. In 1923, the Romanies of Teaca affirmed their collective existence as a "new minority" of "Transylvanian Gypsies", by adopting a flag. Its design is not specified beyond the colors, namely "black–yellow–red." Among the early Romanian Romani organizers, Lazăr Naftanailă is known to have worn the Romanian national tricolor as a

sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...

. According to historian

Ian Hancock Ian Francis Hancock (Romani language, Romani: Yanko le Redžosko; born 29 August 1942) is a linguist, Romani people, Romani scholar and political advocate. He was born and raised in England and is one of the main contributors in the field of Ro ...

, the current flag originates with the world Romani flag proposed in late 1933 by Romania's General Union of the Romanies (UGRR), upon the initiative of

; the ''chakra'' was absent from that version, which was a plain bicolor. Scholar Ilona Klímová-Alexander argues that such a detail is "not confirmed by the statutes or any other source." Other historians, including

Elena Marushiakova Elena Marushiakova ( bg, Елена Марушиакова) is a historian and ethnographer working in field of Romani Studies, of Slovak and Russian origin, who has lived and studied in Slovakia and Bulgaria. In 2016 she became a Research Profess ...

, note the "lack of any real historical evidence" to substantiate Hancock's account, which they describe as a sample of "

nation-building Nation-building is constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the state. Nation-building aims at the unification of the people within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run. According to ...

" mythology. Sociologist Jean-Pierre Liégeois also describes the UGRR's Romani flag as a theorized concept, rather than an actual design, whereas scholar Whitney Smith believes that the bicolor existed, but also that its designer remains unknown. Whitney Smith, "The Ensignment of the Romani People", in ''Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Vexillology'', 2007, . p./ref> Lăzurică's own organization its own, better attested, flag, used to represent Romania's Romani community. It was described in the UGRR charter as a defaced Romanian tricolor, or "the Romanian national colors". Its symbolism combined the national coat of arms with symbols of Romani tribes: "a violin, an anvil, a compass and a trowel crossed with a hammer." The UGRR also used at least 36 regional flags, which were usually blessed in public ceremonies by representatives of the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchat ...

, to which Lăzurică belonged. One meeting held at Mediaș in May 1934 had vexilla, "similar to the flags of the old Roman legions", topped by

tuning fork A tuning fork is an acoustic resonator in the form of a two-pronged fork with the prongs ( tines) formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal (usually steel). It resonates at a specific constant pitch when set vibrating by striking it agai ...

s. In neighboring

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, a ''Kalderash'' man, Matejasz Kwiek, established himself as a "King of the Gypsies". Though his clan was regarded by mainstream Polish Romanies as "Rumanian Gypsies", he remained indifferent to Lăzurică's projects. A February 1935 report mentions various "Gypsy banners", as well as a sash and an "official seal", appearing at a ceremony in which Kwiek became "Leader of the Gypsy Nation". One account suggests that King Matejasz's arms showed a Pharaoh's crown alongside three symbols of the Romanies' "wandering life": a hammer, anvil and whip. The king's funeral in 1937 saw the flying of various blue and red banners, with slogans espousing Kwiek's loyalty toward

Polish nationalism Polish nationalism is a form of nationalism which asserts that the Poles are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Poles. Norman Davies, in the context of Polish nationalism, generally defined nationalism as "a doctrine ... to create a n ...

. One report in the ''

Journal des Débats The ''Journal des débats'' (French for: Journal of Debates) was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times. Created shortly after the first meeting of the Estates-General of 1789, it was, after the out ...

'' describes the procession as carrying an ethnic flag "with the Kwiek dynastic emblem", alongside the

flag of Poland The national flag of Poland ( pl, flaga Polski) consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colours are defined in the Polish constitution as the national colours. A variant of the fl ...

. Following the ascension of Janusz Kwiek to the throne in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

, journalists noted that the "Gypsy kingdom" was not yet flying a single flag of its own, and that "banners of various colors" were used. A report in the Romanian newspaper ''Foaia Poporului'' described them more specifically as "hundreds of Gypsy flags, colored red, green, rose, and yellow." Regional symbols also prevailed in Bulgaria: from 1930, its "Mohammedan" Romanies prioritized the star and crescent as symbols of Islam. In the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

, Romanies united around the cult of Saint Sarah as '' Bibija'' used a blue banner displaying Sarah and

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day De ...

together. The Panhellenic Cultural Association of the Greek Gypsies, active under the

Metaxas Regime Metaxās or Metaxa may refer to: Places * Metaxas Line, fortifications in northeastern Greece in 1935–1940 * Metaxas, Greece, a village in the Greek region of Macedonia * Metaxas Regime or 4th of August Regime, a short-lived authoritarian regi ...

, used a flag of unspecified color, adorned with the image of Saint Sophia. In Britain, GLS affiliates such as

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

promoted the red-yellow-black arrangement as "Romany colours". These were used on the cover of the GLS ''Journal'' for the 1938 Jubilee issue. Janusz Kwiek began to look into territorial nationalism, drawing up a "government program" for a Romani state, and envisaging mass migration into

Italian Ethiopia Italian Ethiopia ( it, Etiopia italiana), also known as the Italian Empire of Ethiopia, was the territory of the Ethiopian Empire which was occupied by Italy for approximately five years. Italian Ethiopia was not an administrative entity, but th ...

. His project coincided with the agenda of Italian fascism, namely the deportation of peninsular Jews and "other persons who were considered racially dangerous, such as gypsies", to the new East African provinces. By the mid 1930s, the initiative to use and recognize an international flag was taken up by the UGRR's new president, Gheorghe Nicolescu; at the time, he corresponded with Kwiek's rival King, Mikita, who wished to establish a Romani state on the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

, or in Africa. The "national Gypsy assembly", which he and Naftanailă convened in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

in September 1934, had "about 72 flags" on display. According to one report, the 1935 Romani congress in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

, presided over by Nicolescu, had the "Romany flag" displayed alongside portraits of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and

Michael I of Romania Michael I ( ro, Mihai I ; 25 October 1921 – 5 December 2017) was the last King of Romania, reigning from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930 and again from 6 September 1940 until his forced abdication on 30 December 1947. Shortly after Michael's ...

. Nicolescu soon proclaimed himself a Gypsy King—and, according to writer Mabel Farley Nandriș, who visited him in his Bucharest home, flew the "Gypsy standard with the Rumanian Arms on one side and the Gypsy Arms on the other—a pair of compasses to measure justice and a lute for music." By 1937, his admiration for

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

and the

National Christian Party The National Christian Party ( ro, Partidul Național Creștin) was a radical-right authoritarian and strongly antisemitic political party in Romania active between 1935 and 1938. It was formed by a merger of Octavian Goga's National Agrarian Pa ...

also resulted in UGRR usage of

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. I ...

s. Despite such "alliances of Roma activists with leading political forces", the 1933 international flag, if it had ever been used at that time, virtually disappeared by the time of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

; many European tribes were decimated in the

, itself part of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. During this period, many Romanies also went into hiding or they denied their identities in order to escape from the ''

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...

'' or avoid deportation. In one incident which was reported at

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is u ...

in 1941, Crimean Romanies flew the green flag of Islam, hoping to make the Nazis believe that they were either

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

. Žarko Jovanović, a survivor of the

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration and extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in Invasion of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugosla ...

, recorded the Holocaust experience in various songs. One of these, ''Jeg djesoro ratvalo avilo'' ("A Day Turned Bloody"), refers to the "Gypsy flag" (''o romanko flako'') being hoisted in honor of Romani continuity.

Rotaru episode

Early in the Cold War era, ethnic symbolism experienced a resurgence. Active in 1945–1948, the United Gypsy Organization in Bulgaria used a "red lagwith two white fields and with a triangle in the middle." A rival Bulgarian Romani body, called ''Ekipe'', mentioned both the Romani state and the Romani national flag in its charter, though it failed to describe the latter in sufficient detail. In 1946, Kwiek, having survived in Holocaust in hiding, returned to regular life in the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

. He renounced his claim to the Romani throne, as well as his itinerant lifestyle, and asked instead to be recognized as "President". Writer

Jerzy Ficowski Jerzy Tadeusz Ficowski (; October 4, 1924 in Warsaw – May 9, 2006 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet, writer and translator (from Yiddish, Russian, Romani and Hungarian). Biography and works During the German occupation of Poland in World War II ...

, who identifies him as "Rudolf Kwiek", reports that he was still a monarch to his followers, having been reconfirmed as such with a ceremony in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

; also according to Ficowski, the Kwiek royal seal was "a crow holding a ring in its beak." From 1955, a "flag of the Gypsies" represents Romani pilgrims to the

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes () is a Catholic Marian shrine and pilgrimage site dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. The sanctuary includes several religious buildings and monuments aro ...

. It is described as a sixteen-ray comet on a field of starry blue with the effigies of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The item is explained in more detail as a "grand flag of the night, carrying the Star of the Magi", though other sources have "a yellow sun shining on a blue field." Meanwhile, the bicolor flag had surfaced, or it was being revived, by Ionel Rotaru. According to Liégeois' interviewees in the Romani community, he was "not at all a Gypsy, but rather a Romanian", and acted mainly as a

confidence artist Confidence is a state of being clear-headed either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Confidence comes from a Latin word 'fidere' which means "to trust"; therefore, having ...

; he had authored novels which reportedly showed his fascist sympathies. From his place of refuge in France, Rotaru envisaged the creation of a Romani state, now named " Romanestan", and he showed its flag to journalist Nico Rost. Several accounts suggest that he originally obtained recognition as "

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...

" by 75,000 Romanies at

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...

, in December 1958. On May 24, 1959, he crowned himself at

Enghien-les-Bains Enghien-les-Bains () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the département of Val-d'Oise. Enghien-les-Bains is famous as a spa resort and a well-to-do suburb of Paris, developed i ...

as "Vaïda Voëvod III", Supreme Leader of the '' Ursari'' tribe (though explicitly not as the "King of the Gypsies"), and formed a nucleus of the

International Romani Union The International Romani Union ( rom, Romano Internacionalno Jekhetanipe), formerly known as the International Gypsy Committee and International Rom Committee, is an organization active for the rights of the Romani people. Its seat is in Vienna. ...

. This group earned recognition from the Kwieks (who had also escaped to France), and established its first local chapter in Poland. The bicolor appeared in Rotaru's sash, presented to him alongside a sword and a necklace. His charter suggested that the color green stood for "land covered in vegetation" and a "world without borders", with blue as a stand-in for the "cosmos and liberty". Unusually, the horizontal display was explained in relation to the vertical flagpole, which represented "the line of profundity of our thinking"; the adoption of a heraldic device was announced, but postponed for "when the time comes." By 1961, Rotaru openly claimed the bicolor as the state flag of Romanestan; in this context, the blue was explained as representing freedom. The location of his proposed state constantly shifted, from

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

or a "small desert island" to an area around

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

. Around 1970, Rotaru was issuing Romani "identity cards" which were decked in blue and green. These projects were registered with alarm by French intelligence, which kept Rotaru under watch as a possible communist infiltrator who was serving the

Eastern bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. Its agents also believed that Vaïda and Rotaru were not the same person—instead, they listed Vaïda as Rotaru's figurehead. The Somalian relocation plan was received with distress by many of Rotaru's nominal subjects, who feared that various nation-states would unilaterally endorse it, using it is an excuse to expel the Romanies from Europe. From September 1969, his undertaking was being met with some opposition by a rival organization, GIPSAR, formed by expatriate

Croatian Croatian may refer to: * Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * S ...

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of ...

and Macedonian Romanies. GIPSAR sent Zivan (or Sivan) Vasic, "president of the Gypsy government", as its representative to the funeral of Charles de Gaulle in late 1970, where he carried a Romani banner; ''

France-Soir ''France Soir'' ( en, France Evening) was a French newspaper that prospered in physical format during the 1950s and 1960s, reaching a circulation of 1.5 million in the 1950s. It declined rapidly under various owners and was relaunched as a popul ...

'' mistakenly identified Vasic as ''Vaïda Voéva'' , but then issued a correction, which also indicated that the GIPSAR bicolor was "black and green". His claim to represent the Romanies, and more specifically the Manushes, was relinquished at a press conference in 1974. Lăzurică and Vaïda's flag faced additional competition from a green-red-blue horizontal triband, which stripes respectively representing the grass, fire, and the skies. By 1962, it had become highly popular among Romani communities.Kenrick, p. 89 During that interval, references to this symbolism were promoted by

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Sp ...

as less contentious than left-wing symbolism favored by local Romanies. A reference to the " Republican flag", in

La Niña de los Peines Pastora Pavón Cruz, known as La Niña de los Peines (10 February 1890 – 26 November 1969), is considered the most important woman flamenco singer of the 20th century. She was a sister of singers Arturo Pavón and Tomás Pavón, also an importa ...

' ''Triana'', was changed by

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

to read "Gypsy flags" (''banderitas gitanas''). Suspicions that the tricolor's prominently displayed red stood for communism led some activists to promote a green-blue bicolor with a red flame or wheel instead of the stripe. An alternative flag of Romanestan was being proposed in 1966 by a Turkish Rom, Nazım Taşkent—it showed violins, guitars and drums on a pink background. Three years later, Romanies gathering at

Banneux Banneux () is a village of Wallonia in the municipality of Sprimont, district of Louveigné, located in the province of Liège, Belgium. It is known because of the reported Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Banneux Our Lady of Banneux, or Ou ...

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...

had a multitude of flags, in various colors, some of them displaying images of Our Lady of the Poor, alongside caravans. File:Romani bicolor (reported, 1930s).svg, Variant reportedly advanced by the UGRR ca. 1933 File:Romani tricolor (1960s).svg, Triband version (1960s) File:Romani bicolor (flame variant, 1960s).svg, Variant with flame (1960s) File:GIPSAR banner (1970).svg, GIPSAR banner (1970)

WRC adoption

In the late 1960s, an "International Gypsy Committee", presided upon by Vanko Rouda, validated continued usage of the blue-green bicolor. The group also announced in 1968 that it would institute a Blue Green Literary Award, named in honor of the flag; activist Leuléa Rouda explained that these were the "colors of the Gypsy flag", "colors of liberty and hope, of sky and nature". The following year, Rotaru's Comité International Tsigane attended a reunion of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Delegates carried with them a "Gypsy flag" of blue and green, though their version broke with earlier banners, in being "divided not horizontally but diagonally". A red-wheel variant was eventually selected as the standardized design, as recognized by the World Romani Congress (WRC). Reportedly, the bicolor background was specifically proposed by Jan Cibula, who established its pedigree as originating with "the pre-war Bucharest congress." The original WRC congress of 1971, held at

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Mary ...

, only confirmed the bicolor, though specifying that a "red fire", "thin stripe", or "wheel" could also be added. This was a compromise version to appease Slobodan Berberski and other communist delegates, who had campaigned for the addition of a red star. The work in its definitive form is attributed to an Indian Romologist,

Weer Rajendra Rishi Weer Rajendra Rishi (September 23, 1917 – December 1, 2002
Rishi Roma) was an Indian

. Specifications were also adopted at subsequent WRC meetings, especially during the second congress of 1978. The wheel was not only made a permanent feature of the flag, but was also explicitly based on the ''

Ashoka Chakra Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

'', as used in the

. The decision to include "something Indian" on the flag was generally popular, reflecting in part Rishi's theories, according to which Romanies were a "medieval warrior caste" akin to

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

s. Reportedly, this variant defeated proposals by other attendees, who supported "earlier flags which had depicted an icon of a horse". Several activists were upset by Rishi's intervention, feeling that the ''chakra'' was an outside symbol, and as such one "thrust upon them". As noted by Smith, the international flag did not detail specifications such as designs or

Pantone Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is a limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, notably graph ...

values. The original WRC design described a "carriage wheel" which did not closely resemble the ''chakra''; ''chakra''-like designs are therefore more recent. Painter Michel Van Hamme, who claims to have contributed in constructing the wheel flag, notes that the sixteen spokes stood for 16 centuries of nomadism. According to sociologist Lídia Balogh, the Romani flag retained Indian symbolism, but was still readable without it: "The wheel can also refer to the eternal cycle of the world, or it can be interpreted as a carriage wheel". One complex explanation of the resulting composition is favored by the Romanies of Brazil. According to these sources, the upper blue half represents heavens, as well as "liberty and peace", as "fundamental Gypsy values"; the green is a reference to "nature and routes explored by the caravans". The red wheel is "life, continuity and tradition, the road traveled and still ahead", with the spokes evoking "fire, transformation, and constant movement." According to ethnologist Ion Duminică, it stands for the "Road of Life", with red as an allusion to the "vitality of blood." Duminică also explains the blue as a reference to "Heavens-Father-God" and to the ideals of "liberty and cleanliness, the unbound space"; whereas green is a stand-in for "Mother Earth". Balogh also notes that the two stripes can be deciphered "without any particular cultural background knowledge" as being the sky, implicitly a symbol of "freedom and transcendence", and the earth; she views the red as a reference to blood, with its dual meaning: "blood is the symbol of life, on the one hand, and the blood spilled on wars and destruction." As sociologist Oana Marcu argues, the reference to "perpetual movement" signified that the Romanies were proudly accepting their nomadic traditions, previously seen as "socially dangerous". According to Balogh, the wheel recalls ancient nomadism, but also the Romanies' participation in the 21st-century economic migration across Europe. Similarly, Duminică writes about symbols of nomadic life as evoking prosperity, since "with no opportunity to perambulate, Romanies will fall prey to poverty." Activist

Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia (born 29 July 1942) is a Spanish politician, of Romani ethnic origin. He is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. In 1986-1999 he was a Member of the European Parliament. He was born in Puerto Real, Cád ...

explained it as a "cartwheel standing in for freedom, which is characteristic of our culture." However, in order to honor the "continuous and varied" support it had received from

, the WRC also accepted Berberski's star on unofficial variants, specifically referencing the Yugoslav flag. Yugoslavia also pioneered the official Romani flag, which was given recognition in the constituent

Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

as early as 1971 (or 1972). This was the culmination of efforts by Faik Abdi, a Macedonian Rom. The symbol was especially important for the

Gurbeti Gurbeti (also Kurbet or Kurbat) are a sub-group of the Romani people living in Cyprus and North Cyprus, Turkey, Crimea, Albania, Serbia and former Yugoslavia whose members are Eastern Orthodox and predominantly Muslim Roma. The Gurbeti make up a ...

around

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; ...

, who integrated it within wedding ceremonies, and was also popularized on album covers by Žarko Jovanović. During the Catholic Jubilee of 1975, Manushes gathered at Primavalle under a "blue banner, with the crowned figure of Our Lady of the Gypsies and a caravan, topped by a tiny tricolor pennant." By then, the WRC variant was being used for remembering the 1940s genocide, beginning with a ceremony held at Natzweiler-Struthof in June 1973. In January 1975, writer-activist

Matéo Maximoff Matéo Maximoff (; 17 January 1917 – 24 November 1999) was a French writer and Evangelical pastor of Romani ethnicity. His eleven books have been translated into fourteen languages. Born in Spain, he had parents who had migrated from Russia and F ...

and a "large Gypsy delegation" took "the blue-and-green flag" to the Gypsy family camp at Auschwitz. In this commemorative context, however, the consecrated flag was sometimes replaced by other symbols: in April 1975, Romani Holocaust survivors were represented at

Fort Mont-Valérien Fort Mont-Valérien (French: ''Forteresse du Mont-Valérien'') is a fortress in Suresnes, a western Paris suburb, built in 1841 as part of the city's ring of modern fortifications. It overlooks the Bois de Boulogne. History Before Thiers built ...

by a never-before-seen banner, displaying a

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found ...

Dany Peto-Manso, "Choses vues. Paris. En mémoire des déportés", in ''Monde Gitan'', Issue 35, 1975, p. 15 or violetJean-Pierre Quélin, "Un homme se lève", in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', October 28, 1980, p. 42 triangle on white. This was a visual clue to

Nazi concentration camp badge Nazi concentration camp badges, primarily triangles, were part of the system of identification in German camps. They were used in the concentration camps in the German-occupied countries to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed ther ...

s, and, according to journalist Jean-Pierre Quélin, was picked and designed by a Manush politician, Dany Peto-Manso, and carried on the field despite deprecatory remarks from members of the

National Gendarmerie The National Gendarmerie (french: Gendarmerie nationale, ) is one of two national law enforcement forces of France, along with the National Police (France), National Police. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the ...

. Peto-Manso himself referred to flag as "hastily made", without specifying its author. The WRC flag was given more exposure in 1978–1979, when a Romani delegation comprising Hancock and

presented it to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

. The item was brought by the Canadian Romani writer

, and as such was also "the first Canadian Romani flag"—sewn by his daughter Diana. A "small organized group of Gypsies, with a flag and armbands", took part in the August 1980 pilgrimage to the

Black Madonna of Częstochowa The Black Madonna of Częstochowa ( pl, Czarna Madonna / Matka Boska Częstochowska; la, Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae Conceptae, in Claro Monte, lit=Miraculous Image of the Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary ...

, in what was then the

. Within the post-WRC setting, it remained especially important as a distinguishing symbol of NGOs who prefer the terms "Roma" and "Romani" over

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, o ...

s such as "Gypsies"; an example of this is the Roma Community Center in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Spread

The Romani flag acquired an enhanced political status during the late stages of the Cold War. This was especially the case among Hungarian Romanies, who embraced cultural separatism. By 1995, a series of "naive science" works had been published there by unsigned Romani authors, with "the cover of each volume was designed based on the elements of the Gypsy flag." In the years leading up to the creation of a Gypsy Minority Self-Government, activists made a show of removing Hungarian flags from public meetings, which were held under all-Romani flags. In tandem, there was a resurgence of extreme

Hungarian nationalism Hungarian nationalism developed in the late 18th century and early 19th century along the classic lines of scholarly interest leading to political nationalism and mass participation. In the 1790s, Hungarian nobles pushed for the adoption of Hungar ...

in places such as

Kalocsa Kalocsa (; hr, Kaloča or ''Kalača''; sr, Kaloča or Калоча; german: Kollotschau) is a town in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary. It lies south of Budapest. It is situated in a marshy but highly productive district, near the left bank of the ...

, where, in October 1989, the Romani support center was vandalized; reportedly, its Romani flag was "defaced with a swastika." The WRC flag was flown during the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

in the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, ČSSR, formerly known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic or Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 to 29 March 1990, when it was renamed the Czechoslovak ...

, in particular at a rally of Romani anti-communists, held outside Letná Park. Following the

dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia ( cs, Rozdělení Československa, sk, Rozdelenie Česko-Slovenska) took effect on December 31, 1992, and was the self-determined split of the federal republic of Czechoslovakia into the independent countries ...

, Slovak Romanies adopted the WRC design with the wheel in yellow, combined with the Slovak tricolor. From about 1989, Croatian Romanies, represented by the "Democratic Party of the Croatian Roma", have used a variant of the ''chakra'' flag superimposed with the ''

šahovnica The Croatian checkerboard or chequy ( hr, šahovnica, ) is the national symbol of Croatia and Croats, it covers the main shield of Croatian coat of arms above which is the crown with five smaller shields. Squares are always arranged correctly and ...

''. In July 1992, a casket containing the body of

Camarón de la Isla José Monje Cruz (5 December 1950 – 2 July 1992), better known by his stage name Camarón de la Isla (), was a Spanish Romani flamenco singer. Considered one of the all-time greatest flamenco singers, he was noted for his collaborations ...

, Spain's influential Rom singer, was draped with a purported "Gypsy flag". This showed a cartwheel and a map of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

, both on a field of plain green. Later Catalan variants are more closely modeled on the 1978 flag, but have the red wheel outlined in yellow, perhaps to evoke the ''

Senyera The Senyera (; meaning "pennon", "standard", "banner", "ensign", or, more generically, "flag" in Catalan) is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a yellow field. This co ...

''. A ''chakra''-like derivative, or "round-wheeled Gypsy flag", also appears, along with the ''

menorah Menorah may refer to: * Jewish candelabra: ** Temple menorah, a seven-lamp candelabrum used in the ancient Tabernacle in the desert, the Temple in Jerusalem, and synagogues ** Hanukkah menorah or ''hanukkiyah'', a nine-lamp candelabrum used on the ...

'', in the arms granted to Jewish violinist

upon his creation as a British lord 1993; according to music critic Mark Swed, they are defiant symbols of Menuhin's nonconformity. The flag was fully integrated in Holocaust memorials by 1995, when it was shown at

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum ( pl, Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau) is a museum on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim (German: ''Auschwitz''), Poland. The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwit ...

. A sculpture of the wagon wheel appears at the Bucharest monument commemorating the

Holocaust in Romania The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...

, explained by curators as a symbol of its 11,000 Romani victims. After 2000, the WRC bicolor also acquired recognition from other national and regional governments. In 2006, as part of an effort to combat

racism in Brazil Racism has been present in Brazil since its colony times and is pointed as one of the major and most widespread types of discrimination, if not the most, in the country by several anthropologists, sociologists, jurists, historians and others. The ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist, and former metalworker who is the president-elect of Brazil. A member of the Workers' Par ...

instituted a "National Day of the Gypsy" (May 24), during which the Romani flag was on display in official settings. The Romani community of Spain was similarly honored at various dates in 2018, when the Romani flag was displayed by for instance by the

City Council of Madrid The City Council of Madrid ( es, Ayuntamiento de Madrid) is the top-tier administrative and governing body of the Madrid, the capital and biggest city of Spain. The City Council is composed by three bodies; the Mayor who leads the City Council an ...

and its correspondent in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...

. In October 2011, a similar initiative in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth resulted in controversy, after a local councilor had argued that the expenses were unjustified. Since the 1990s, ''chakras'' and cartwheels have endured as major preferred symbols of Romani activism in Europe, being adopted by organizations such as Romani CRISS, the

Social-Political Movement of the Roma The Social-Political Movement of the Roma ( ro, Mişcarea social-politică a Romilor din Republica Moldova) is a political party in Moldova.Museum of Romani Culture. The traditionally Romani

Šuto Orizari Municipality Šuto Orizari ( mk, ; Balkan Romani: ''Shuto Orizari''; sq, Shutkë), often shortened as ''Šutka'' (Шутка), is one of the ten municipalities that make up the City of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of North Macedonia. '' Šuto Orizari ...

, in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

, has a "a colourful flag featuring the Roma wheel – an Indian chakra, which refers to the origin of the Roma people." Eight-spoked wheels are also popular as variations, used for instance by the ''Ciocănari'' Romanies of

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

. In 2002, the Italian Rom artist Luca Vitone designed an anarchist version of the flag, featuring the red ''chakra'' on a field of black. By 2009, other derivatives of the Romani flag were becoming widely used by self-identified Manush or "Traveller" users of

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

, sometimes combined with badges showing hedgehogs and images of caravans. Since 2007, the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

experimented with separate pavillions for Romani artists, who exhibited "under the Romani flag, a flag of a borderless nation; a country embodied solely by those who dare to fly that flag."

Damian Le Bas Damian Le Bas (30 January 1963, Sheffield – 9 December 2017, Worthing) was a British artist associated with the Outsider art, Outsider Art (or "Art Brut") label, as well a leading exponent of the "Roma Revolution" in art. Life Le Bas was of R ...

, "An Encounter with the Artwork of Małgorzata Mirga-Tas", in Wojciech Szymański, Joanna Warsza (eds.), ''Małgorzata Mirga-Tas. Re-enchanting the World'', p. 134. Warsaw & Berlin:

Zachęta The Zachęta National Gallery of Art (Polish: ''Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki'') is a contemporary art museum in the center of Warsaw, Poland. The Gallery's chief purpose is to present and support Polish contemporary art and artists. With numero ...

, Archive Books & European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture, 2022. A controversy erupted in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

during July 2013, when artist Tomáš Rafa displayed hybrid versions of the Romani and Czech flags. This commentary on the marginalization of Czech Romanies was read as a defamation of the national symbols, and resulted in Rafa being fined. A 2009 study among Hungarian Romanies showed that many were recognizing the flag as standing in for the Romani nation as a whole. In subsequent years, it appeared during Romani Catholic pilgrimages to

Pomezia Pomezia () is a municipality (''comune'') in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio, central Italy. In 2009 it had a population of about 60,000. History The town was built entirely new near the location of ancient Lavinium on land resultin ...

, which commemorate

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

's 1965 visit to a "

tent city A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures. State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable te ...

". In 2014, boxer Domenico Spada, an Italian Rom, announced that he would be competing under the ethnic flag in his match against

Marco Antonio Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born June 16, 1980) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2015. He held the WBC interim middleweight title in 2014, and challenged twice for a middleweight world title in 2009 and 2012. Profession ...

. He declared this a protest against Italy's alleged indifference toward his career. In late 2018, the symbol was spotted as one of the protest flags waved by the

Yellow vests movement The Yellow Vests Protests or Yellow Jackets Protests or Yellow Vests Revolution (french: Mouvement des gilets jaunes, ) are a series of Populism, populist, grassroots weekly protests in France that began on 17 November 2018. At first the protes ...

in France. The flag also enjoys popularity in its purported native country, Romania, where it was flown privately by Vasile Velcu Năzdrăvan, a leader of the Romanies in

Craiova ) , official_name = Craiova , image_skyline = , image_caption = From left: Dolj County Prefecture • Constantin Mihail Palace • Bibescu Manor House • Carol I National College • Museum of Oltenia • University of Craiova , i ...

. It was additionally used by

's " King of the Roma", Florin Cioabă, and other members of his clan. As early as 2002, Cioabă's daughter Luminița appeared at local festivities wearing "her traditional Roma costume, in the symbolic colors blue (for the sky), green (for the earth) and red (for the Roma), which can also be found in the Gypsy flag." Florin Cioabă's funeral ceremony in August 2013 reportedly displayed four flags: the WRC bicolor, the

flag of Europe The Flag of Europe or European Flag consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe. Since 1985, the flag has also b ...

and the Romanian tricolor, alongside banners representing the royal house and the ''Stabor'' (Romani tribunal). File:Eight-spoked wheel flag used by Hungarian Romanies.svg, Eight-spoked wheel variant used by the Hungarian Romanies File:Eight-spoked wheel flag used by Romanies of Călărași County, Romania.svg, Variant seen in Romania's

Călărași County Călărași () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 285,050 and a population density of 56.02/km2. * Romanians – 95% ...

File:Flag of Šuto Orizari Municipality, Macedonia.svg, Old flag of

File:Czech–Romani fictitious flag.svg, One of Tomáš Rafa's Romani-themed variations on the

Czech flag The flag of the Czech Republic ( cs, státní vlajka České republiky) or flag of Czechia ( cs, vlajka Česka), or Czech Flag ( cs, česká vlajka) is the same as the flag of the former Czechoslovakia. Upon the dissolution of Czechoslovakia i ...

File:Romani anarchist flag.svg, Romani anarchist flag

Non-usage and alternatives

Writing about the Romanian Romanies in 2011, journalist

Ben Judah Ben Judah (born 1988) is a British journalist and the author of ''This Is London'' and ''Fragile Empire''. Early life The son of author Tim Judah and Rosie Whitehouse, he was born in London. He is of Baghdadi Jewish descent. He spent a portion ...

viewed the bicolor as "a remnant of mostly failed efforts made by NGOs in the 1970s to unite and organize the Roma." In addition to raising controversy for its Indian symbolism, the flag has received criticism for being essentialist in relation to a complex identity. During the final years of the 20th century, activists such as

Nicolae Gheorghe Nicolae Gheorghe (12 November 1946 – 8 August 2013) was a Romanian human rights activist. He was born in Risiori de Vede. Biography The founder of the Roma modern movement, starting in Romania during the communist regime and continued it to ...

and Andrzej Mirga were heralding "a small but important movement away from the Romani nationalism of the International Romani Union", rejecting "the idealisation and romanticisation of Gypsy identity associated with such symbols as flags and anthems." As noted by philosopher David Kergel, the WRC flag inherently stands for the "effort to define the Roma as a nation without land and assimilate them into a concept of the national state", a

vision which neglects that the Roma are in reality "heterogeneous". Similarly, anthropologist Carol Silverman notes that the bicolor and the Romani anthem are modeled on the "dominant European tropes of defining the heritage of a singular nation." Upon reviewing several editions of the Festival for Romani Music and Song in

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province. Name The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...

, sociologist Nadezhda Georgieva remarked: "If a true feeling or expression of ''Romanes'' is to be sought, then the audience should be pointed out as one of the main participants in the show, as real artists, remaining faithful to their identity and sensitive to the changes dictated to them by any elites or institutions. They are the ones who build and dismantle ethnic boundaries .. This is where the real signs of ''Romanes'' should be sought; not in the official Romani symbols present on the stage such as the Romani flag or the playing of the Romani anthem, to which little attention was paid." Another line of criticism refers to the perceived irrelevancy of the WRC flag. Already in 1977, ethnographer Zsolt Csalog observed that creating the flag was "more intended to hide away real issues than to solve them." In 2009, Jud Nirenberg of the European Roma Rights Centre reproached on the

that it dealt mainly with promoting the flag and other symbols of Romani nationalism, rather than "develop ngconcrete plans for addressing discrimination or poverty." The same year, three authors from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

expressed criticism of the Black Health Agency's involvement in assisting Romanian Romani children in England; according to their finds, the Romanies were artificially separated from Romanians in the United Kingdom, and encouraged to adopt a "victim discourse" in describing their condition. The Agency's toolkit "features a theme on the Romani Flag and Anthem, both of which were previously unknown to most members of the local Roma community." Romani artist

saluted the decision to exhibit Małgorzata Mirga-Tas' works in the Venice Biennale's Polish pavilion, and under the

Polish flag The national flag of Poland ( pl, flaga Polski) consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colours are defined in the Polish constitution as the national colours. A variant of the fl ...

. He argued that previous usage of the WRC bicolor had validated segregation: "Across Europe, the opinion that Romani people do not belong in the countries of which they are citizens is commonplace." Several alternatives to the 1978 flag still emerged among dissenting Romani or itinerant groups. The

Sinti The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...

, which stand apart as the more assimilated group of German Romanies, have been particularly reluctant in adopting national symbolism. As reported by scholars Gilad Margalit at

Yaron Matras Yaron Matras (born October 24, 1963) is a linguist at the University of Manchester specializing in Romani and other languages, including Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region ...

: "During the civic struggle of the early 1980s, Sinti organizations used the Romani national flag as well as rhetoric that contained certain elements borrowed from Romani nationalism, but these expressions had a rather superficial character and disappeared over the years. ..Most German Sinti ..prefer the assimilation model, with certain reservations that would enable them to preserve their unique ethnic subculture." In April 2015, ''Vocea Romilor'', a newspaper for the Romanian Romanies, reported that the "Gypsies of Fața Luncii neighborhood" in Craiova put out Romanian flags on their gates, in protest against the usage of Székely flags by ethnic Hungarians. Activist Romeo Tiberiade explained: "the flag of this county, no matter the region, is but one .. We were upset that other citizens, belonging to a minority that is smaller in numbers than our own, have been putting out a flag other than the national one. The law is for all Romanians, and we are proud of being Romanians." In the Netherlands, Koko (or Koka) Petalo urged his followers to adopt a tricolor of yellow, white and red, while the Romanies of

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, ...

use a "flag of horizontal white and green stripes" during their pilgrimage to

Fregenal de la Sierra Fregenal de la Sierra (originally Frexnal or Frexenal) is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. Geography Fregenal de la Sierra is located in the Sierra Suroeste comarca (county), among the small hills and rav ...

. Along with other Romani symbols, the ''chakra'' is rejected by the

, who used two successive designs for their own ethnic flag; similarly, Romanies in the

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

reportedly use a banner of the 1914 republic. The

Dom people The Dom (also called Domi; ar, دومي / ALA-LC: ', / , Ḍom / or , or sometimes also called Doms) are descendants of the Dom with origins in the Indian subcontinent which through ancient migrations are found scattered across Middle Ea ...

of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

do not have any political symbols; this was noted in 2022 by scholar Ronen Zeidel, in reference to the Iraqi "Gypsies": "Unlike other Iraq minorities Gypsies have no flag, unique religion, territorial claims, and at present even their language is on the verge of extinction." Reports in 2004 noted that the

Irish Travellers Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic na ...

had considered creating their own flag, but also that they "may model ton the Roma standard, which bears an image of a 16-spoke wheel." In June 2018, the Travellers of Cork adopted a banner displaying a cartwheel and replicating the city colors of orange and white. Such projects were criticized from within the community by Travellers who argue for a "common identity we all share on the island of Ireland", and for

Irish republicanism Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develo ...

as its political expression. They voice their continued loyalty to, and preference for, the

Irish tricolor The national flag of Ireland ( ga, bratach na hÉireann), frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' () and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour is a vertical tricolour of green (at the hoist), white and orange. The proportions of the ...

. Similarly, anthropologist Marc Bordigoni observed that "certain renchTraveller groups also make a point of distancing themselves from the French Romanies .. as well as from those Romanies who are either refugees or migrants from Eastern European countries". Coalesced into the ''Collectif national des gens du Voyage'' and ''Voyageurs, Français à part entière'', they use the French flag alongside pennons representing either of these groups.Marc Bordigoni, ''Gens du Voyage. Droit et vie quotidienne en France'', pp. 23–24. Paris: Dalloz, 2013.

Notes

References

External links

Romani flag
Flags of the World entry {{DEFAULTSORT:Romani People, Flag of the

Flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design emp ...

Ethnic flags Flags introduced in 1971