Red, Blue and Yellow Flags

Which countries have red, blue and yellow flags?

• Yellow, blue and red horizontal stripes: Colombia, Ecuador (with a coat of arms) and Venezuela (with an arc of eight stars). The yellow band is twice as wide as the others.
• Blue, yellow and red vertical stripes: Romania, Chad, Moldova (with a coat of arms) and, with extra colors, Andorra.
• Armenia: three horizontal stripes of red, blue and orange.
• Mongolia: red, blue and red vertical stripes with a yellow Soyombo symbol.
• Democratic Republic of the Congo: a sky blue field with a red diagonal stripe edged with yellow and a yellow star.
• Åland Islands: a blue field with a red Nordic cross edged in yellow.

Romania and Chad are almost identical, and Chad's blue is slightly darker. Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela are also close relatives. Ecuador adds a coat of arms, and Venezuela an arc of stars.

Why do these flags share red, blue and yellow?

The yellow, blue and red of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela go back to the flag of Gran Colombia, a federation of the early 1800s that also included Panama. The three countries kept the tricolor after the union broke up. Venezuela's colors are commonly explained as yellow for the land's wealth, blue for the sea and red for the blood of independence heroes.

Romania's blue, yellow and red have been used since the 1848 revolution and were drawn from the old provinces of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania. Moldova inherits the same colors, and Andorra's similar design reflects the influence of France and Spain.

Mongolia's red and blue are traditional, with the yellow Soyombo symbol in the center. The Åland Islands, an autonomous Finnish region, have a Nordic cross whose blue and yellow recall Sweden.