Trei culori

Trei culori
English: "Three Colors"
Emblem of the Socialist Republic of Romania

Former national anthem of Romania
Also known as„Imnul de Stat al Republicii Socialiste România” (English: "State Anthem of the Socialist Republic of Romania")
LyricsCiprian Porumbescu, 1977
MusicCiprian Porumbescu, 1977
Adopted1977
Relinquished1990
Audio sample
Vocal rendition in G major.
Instrumental recording of the anthem

"Three Colors"[a] was the national anthem of the Socialist Republic of Romania from 1977 to 1990. On 24 January 1990, after the Romanian Revolution, it was officially replaced by the current anthem Deșteaptă-te, române!.[1][2] Before 1977, the country's national anthem was E scris pe tricolor Unire,[3] whose melody is the same as that of the Albanian national anthem.

The song "Three Colors" is based on a Romanian patriotic song written and composed by Ciprian Porumbescu. 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, and praises of the Leninist ideology were consciously not included, emphasising a more national communist character of the state.

The title refers to the national flag of Romania, which is a blue-yellow-red tricolor. 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 spirit to make a dimensionally standardized tricolour banner as their national flag.

The song continued to be used as Romania's national anthem for around a month after the overthrow of the Socialist Republic,[1][2] but with Porumbescu's original patriotic lyrics.


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  1. ^ a b "Cum a devenit "Deșteaptă-te, române!" imnul național al României". Digi24 (in Romanian). 5 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b Pădurean, Bianca (21 June 2018). "Pagina de istorie: Povestea cântecului "Deșteaptă-te, române!" și cum a devenit el "Marseilleza românilor"". RFI România (in Romanian).
  3. ^ Petru Bălan, Cristian (2008). Imnurile de stat ale ţărilor din Uniunea Europeană (in Romanian). p. 112. ISBN 978-9737400949.[permanent dead link]