Trei culori (; ) was the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

of the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian People ...

from 1977 to 1990. On 24 January 1990, after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

, it was officially replaced by "

Deșteaptă-te, române! "" ("Awaken Thee, Romanian!"; ) is the national anthem of Romania and former national anthem of Moldova. The lyrics were composed by Andrei Mureșanu (1816–1863), and the music was popular (it was chosen for the poem by Gheorghe Ucenescu, as ...

". Before 1977, the national anthem was "

E scris pe tricolor Unire "Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire" () is a Romanian patriotic song dedicated to the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia established in 1859. The text was written by and the music was composed by Ciprian Porumbescu in 1880. Its tune ...

". "Trei culori" is based on a Romanian patriotic song written and composed by

Ciprian Porumbescu Ciprian Porumbescu (; born Cyprian Gołęmbiowski on 14 October 1853 – 6 June 1883) was a Romanian composer born in Șipotele Sucevei in Bukovina (now Shepit, Vyzhnytsia Raion, Ukraine). He was among the most celebrated Romanian composers ...

). The original lyrics twice underwent non-credited revisions in order to reflect the country's Communist doctrine, and parallels between past and present glories. This was unlike one of the previous anthems, " Te slăvim, Românie", a text mentioning Romania's brotherhood with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and praises of the

Leninist Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishme ...

ideology were consciously not included, emphasising a more

national communist National communism represents various forms in which Marxism–Leninism and socialism has been adopted and/or implemented by leaders in different countries using aspects of nationalism or national identity to form a policy independent from comm ...

character of the state. The title refers to the national

flag of Romania The national flag of Romania ( ro, drapelul României) is a tricolour. The Constitution of Romania states that "The flag of Romania is tricolour; the colours are arranged vertically in the following order from the flagpole: blue, yellow, red". ...

, which is a blue-yellow-red

tricolour A tricolour () or tricolor () is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty, or revolution. The flags of France, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and Ireland were ...

. It has not undergone major changes. Only the distribution of the colors (in point of proportion and position) was changed to a certain extent, being made equal after the abortive Romanian revolution of 1848. The Romanian principalities were among the many European states during that time that were inspired by the

French revolutionary The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

spirit to make a dimensionally standardized tricolour banner as their national flag. The song continued as the national anthem for around a month after the overthrow of the Socialist Republic, but with Porumbescu's original patriotic lyrics.

Lyrics

References

External links

Sound file (mp3)
{{Authority control Socialist Republic of Romania Historical national anthems National symbols of Romania Romanian patriotic songs European anthems Romanian-language songs