Flag of Paraguay de Asunción), each side of this tricolour flag contains a horizontal tricolor of red, white and blue with the National Emblem centered on the white band. The emblem on the obverse side is the national coat of arms of Paraguay: a yellow five-pointed star surrounded by a green wreath of palm and olive leaves tied with ribbons of the colour of the stripes, and capped by the words ("Republic of Paraguay" in Spanish), all within two concentric circles). The colours of the flag are believed to be inspired from the flag of France to show independence and liberty, and the
Flag of Romania punished for having worn the tricolor. From 1859 until 1866, the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia had a red-yellow-blue Romanian tricolor, with horizontal stripes, as national flag. The flag was described properly in "Almanahul român din 1866": "a tricolor flag, divided in three stripes, red, yellow and blue and laid out horizontally: red above, blue below and yellow in the middle". Although the Ottoman Empire did not allow the United Principalities to have their own symbols, the new flag gained a degree of international recognition. Relating prince Cuza's May–June 1864 journey to Constantinople, doctor Carol Davila observed: "The Romanian