21st anniversary of Tricolor celebrated with flower laying and speeches

The Tricolor – which is a symbol of the nation's unity, people's values and national revival - was celebrated in Chisinau on April 27 with flowers and applause, Info-Prim Neo reports. Mayor General of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca said those who voted for the Tricolor are patriots who risked their lives and promoted the national values and freedom. “We gathered here to render homage to those who had the courage to fight for the Tricolor,” Dorin Chirtoaca said, mentioning the organizations “Stephan's Archers,” the Freedom Party, and the National Patriotic Front, Alexandru Sholtuianu, Valeriu Graur, and Gheorghe Ghimpu. First vice president of the Liberal Party Ion Hadarca said the Tricolor Day is a national revival day and a day of people's unity and of sacrifice for the national values. Gheorghe Muruziuc is one of the patriots who carried the Tricolor. In 1960, he hoisted the flag in Floresti and was jailed for 10 years for this. Gheorghe Muruziuc raised the Tricolor on the building of a farm and kept it there throughout the day, showing that there are people who did not forget the history, said Ion Hadarca. On April 27, 1990, Gheorghe Ghimpu took down the Soviet flag and hoisted the Tricolor on the building of the Parliament, which now houses the Presidential Office. Pantelei Sandulachi, head of the Association “Parlamentul '90”, said the Flag Day should be celebrated all over Moldova, not only in the capital city. “We think that the results we achieved will be appreciated over time as we obtained liberation from the imperial regime and the Tricolor became the first symbol of the state” said Pantelei Sandulachi. He stated that the Great National Assembly Square was packed on April 27, 1990. A member of the first legislative body, Gheorghe Amihalachioaie said that this is a national pride day. “It was not easy to designate the Tricolor as the national flag, but we are proud that we managed to. The Tricolor is our national symbol, of our Romanian nation,” he said. Writer and a member of the first Parliament, Vladimir Besleaga said the three colors of the flag – blue, yellow and red – are national colors. He stated that poet Grigore Vieru wrote a poem about the Tricolor, but it was banned from being published. “This poem for children is about the three colors. It is now time to say that the three colors are the colors of all the Romanians,” he said. The tricolor was designated as state flag by a law adopted on April 27, 1990. It represents a symbol of Moldova's independence and sovereignty. The State Flag Day was instituted in April 2010 by Parliament by introducing amendments to the Decision on Holidays, Commemorative Days and Nonworking Days in Moldova.