Observed annually on August 27, the Independence Day of Republic of Moldova is a national holiday commemorating the day in 1991 that the Eastern European republic was declared a sovereign nation after over five decades of Soviet rule.

Also Moldova's National Day, August 27 is celebrated with fireworks, concerts and parades. The Moldovan president usually addresses the nation with a patriotic speech.

The nation's tricolor flag of blue, yellow, and red mirrors the colors of the flag of Romania, of which Moldova was once united. A coat of arms at the flag’s center features an eagle with an Orthodox Christian cross in its beak holding a golden sceptre in one claw and an olive branch of peace in the other. A shield on the eagle’s breast depicts the head of an auroch, Moldova’s national symbol, a prehistoric wild ox that used to roam the European landscape.