Editing Flag of Romania (section)

===The 1989 Revolution===

[[File:RomanianFlag-withHole.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|right|Flag with the coat of arms cut out.]]

On 20 December 1989, during the [[Romanian Revolution|revolution]] at [[Timișoara]], the protesters were waving flags with the Communist coat of arms cut out of the middle.<ref>{{in lang|ro}}"[https://agerpres.ro/documentare/2019/12/21/revolutie-30-imagini-din-21-22-decembrie-1989-din-bucuresti-si-timisoara--422598 REVOLUȚIE 30: Imagini din 21-22 decembrie 1989 din București și Timișoara]", Agerpres, 21 December 2019.</ref><ref>{{in lang|ro}}[https://memorialulrevolutiei.ro/timisoara/ Memorialul Revoluției din 1989].</ref>

The coat of arms in use at the time was perceived as a symbol of [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]]'s dictatorship and of the Communist era. These flags were called "the flag with the hole" (''drapelul cu gaură'').

Such flags continue to be seen occasionally during contemporary mass protests, particularly those conducted in reaction to Government misconduct.<ref>[photo] [https://bucurestiulmeudrag.ro/fotografii/58bc9656-8880-4cdf-9f67-d77f592b13d5 Protest anticoruptie in Bucuresti], "Bucurestiul meu drag", March 2017.</ref>

The Communist flag would officially be replaced in the immediate wake of the Revolution, on 27 December 1989, by the [[National Salvation Front (Romania)|National Salvation Front]] with the 1867 version of the simple tricolor, which remains in use today.<ref>Decree-Law published in ''Monitorul Oficial'' no. 4 of 27 December 1989</ref>