The Romanian Peoples Republic Flag, 1965-1989.
This is a cotton Romanian national flag made in that country. It was acquired from a military surplus store in the vicinity of the U.S. Army's Fort Ord, near Monterey, California. Fort Ord was a training facility for basic and advanced infantry training, including courses in Survival, Evasion and Escape, wherein US Army personnel simulated Warsaw Pact forces. In order to make this training as realistic as possible, flags and uniforms from Warsaw Pact nations were used in this training, and it this flag is thought to have such origins.
The national flag of The Romanian Peoples Republic, from 1965 to 1989, was used during the Cold War. Romania was a signatory of the Warsaw Pact and like other nations in the Soviet orbit, used the field of the traditional pre-communist Romanian flag as the basis for the national flag, which was then defaced with an arms reflecting typical communist motifs.
After the overthrow of the communist government, the communist symbolism was removed from the Romanian flag.
Provenance: Acquired by purchase at J&S Military Surplus, Moss Landing, CA.
ZFC Noteworthy Flag
Sources:
Socialist Republic of Romania, 1965-1989, Flags of the World, 22 April 2012, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ro-1965.html
Flag of Romania, Wikipedia, 22 April 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Romania
Fort Ord, Wikipedia, 22 April 2012, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ord
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
