"Hora Unirii" is a poem by Vasile Alecsandri, published in 1856. The music of the song was composed by Alexandru Flechtenmacher. The song is sung and danced especially on January 24, the anniversary of the day in which the Romanian United Principalities were formally united in 1859. It was, in fact, considered the "unofficial anthem" of the unification of the Romanian principalities and its supporters in 1859.

Vasile Alecsandri was a Romanian patriot, poet, dramatist, politician and diplomat. He was one of the key figures during the 1848 revolutions in Moldavia and Wallachia. He fought for the unification of the Romanian Principalities, writing "Hora Unirii" in 1856 and giving up his candidacy for the title of prince of Moldavia, in favor of Alexandru Ioan Cuza. He became the first minister of foreign affairs of Romania and was one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy. Alecsandri was a prolific writer, contributing to Romanian literature with poetry, prose, several plays, and collections of Romanian folklore, being considered, alongside Mihai Eminescu, which admired and was inspired by the writings of Alecsandri, as one of the most important Romanian writers in the second half of the 19th century.