Transnistria is a region in Eastern Europe that is under the effective control of the self-declared

Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

but is recognized by the international community as an administrative unit of Moldova, the

Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester The Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester (Transnistria); russian: Административно-территориальные единицы левобережья Днестра (Приднестровья); uk, ...

. Transnistria uses a red-green-red triband and the Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester use the flag of Moldova.

Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic

The

, also known as Transnistria ( ro, Steagul Transnistriei,

Moldovan Cyrillic The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet designed for the Romanian language spoken in the Soviet Union ( Moldovan) and was in official use from 1924 to 1932 and 1938 to 1989 (and still in use today in the breakaway Moldovan regio ...

: Стягул Транснистрией; russian: Флаг Приднестровья; uk, Прапор Придністров'я), has two co-official national flags. The first co-official national flag consists of three horizontal bands of red, green, and red, of vertical width 3:2:3, and in the upper canton, is the main element of the coat of arms of Transnistria; a golden

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industri ...

and a gold-bordered

red star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

. The hammer and sickle fit into a conventional square, and the star, a conditional circle. Transnistria adopted this design that comprises a version of the

flag of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic The flag of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on 31 January 1952. The flag has three horizontal bands of red, green (1/4) and red, with a hammer and sickle in the canton. As defined by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the ...

used between 1952 and 1990 in the 2000 Law about State Symbols. The second co-official national flag consists of three horizontal stripes in the colors white, blue, and red. (Russian flag at a ratio of 1:2 instead of 2:3)

History

The

served as the flag of the republic until December 1991. When Moldova became independent, some places in Transnistria refused to fly the new Moldovan flag and continued to fly the flag of the Soviet Union. Continued use of the flag of the former Moldavian SSR was popular and it was officially reintroduced as the flag of Transnistria in 1991. Despite the socialist influence on the flag and coat of arms, Transnistria is not a socialist state. It is the only state in the world that uses the hammer and sickle on its flag. The original flag, as well as its description, are kept in the official residence of the President of Transnistria. In 2009, the Supreme Council discussed a proposal to replace the civil flag – which is plain red-green-red without the hammer and sickle – with a new flag, carrying three horizontal stripes in the colours white, blue, and red, being almost identical to the flag of the Russian Federation, but with a different aspect ratio (1:2 instead of Russia's 2:3). The primary reason for the co-official national flag is that it indicates Transnistria's desire for closer ties with Russia, a guarantor of Transnistria's claimed independence from Moldova. In a 2006 referendum, 97.2% of Transnistrians were reported to have voted in favour of increased free association with Russia. The new flag is used alongside the state flag. In 2017, the Supreme Council passed a motion making the new design Transnistria's co-official national flag.

Usage

Transnistrian law permits the use of a simplified version of the flag for non-governmental use (personal and commercial usage) without the hammer and sickle and red star and regard to shape or size. The most common size is still 1:2, but 2:3 versions have also been used. The national flag of Transnistria is permanently raised on the buildings of: File:Flag of Transnistria (State) - Construction sheet.svg, Construction sheet (State Flag) File:Transnistria flag - panoramio.jpg, Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic flag File:Transnistria-plate.jpg, Transnistrian number plate with the simplified flag in the corner

Other flags

The presidential flag is a 1:1, yellow fringed version of the civil flag with the coat-of-arms in the center. It was adopted on 18 July 2000 and replaced an earlier version dating from 1997. The army flag is a blue flag with a yellow bordered red cross. It is similar to that of the

Moldovan army The Moldovan Ground Forces, known officially as Land Forces Command is the Army, land armed-forces branch of the Moldovan National Army, National Army of the Moldovan Armed Forces. The Moldovan Ground Forces date back to the dissolution of the Sovi ...

, but does not include the Moldovan coat-of-arms. A customs flag is also in use by Transnistrian customs. It is a primarily green flag with two red bands at the bottom. The central part of the flag is dominated by the symbol of Transnistrian customs.

Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester

The law which formally established the

contains provisions for the region to adopt its own symbols.Law No. 173 from 22.07.2005 "About main notes about the special legal status of settlements of the left bank of Dnestr (Transnistria)"
/ref> At present, the region has not yet adopted a distinctive flag and instead of the flag of Moldova is used for official purposes. It consists of a vertical tricolor of blue, yellow, and red, charged with the coat of arms of Moldova (an eagle holding a shield charged with an aurochs) on the center bar. File:Flag of Moldova.svg, Flag of Moldova

References

External links

About the State Flag of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag Of Transnistria Politics of Transnistria Flags of Moldova Transnistria Transnistria Transnistria