Coat of arms of Romania

History

United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (1859-1881) and the Kingdom of Romania (1881-1947)

The idea behind the design of the coat of arms of Romania dates from 1859, when the two Romanian countries, Wallachia and Moldavia, united under Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza. Then the two heraldic symbols, the golden aquila and the aurochs, were officially juxtaposed.

Until 1866, there were many variants of the coat of arms, regarding the background color and the number of times the two main elements where represented. In 1866, after Carol I was elected Prince of Romania, the shield was divided into quarters: in the first and fourth an eagle was depicted, and in the second and third the aurochs; above the shield the arms of the reigning Hohenzollern family was placed. After 1872, the coat of arms included the symbol of southern Bessarabia (after 1877, of Dobruja), two dolphins, in the fourth quarter; and the one of Oltenia, a golden lion, in the third quarter; on the shield the Steel Crown was placed, as a symbol of sovereignty and independence, after the Romanian War of Independence.

The coat of arms remained unchanged until 1921, after World War I, when Transylvania was united with the Kingdom of Romania. Then the coat of arms of Transylvania was placed in the fourth quarter, with the Eagle (heraldry), the third quarter depicted the coat of arms of Banat (the bridge of Apollodorus of Damascus and a golden lion), and the coat of arms of Dobruja was placed in an insertion. The shield was placed on the chest of a golden crossed and crowned aquila, as a symbol of the Latinity of the Romanians. The aquila was placed on a blue shield, capped with the Steel Crown. The coat of arms had three versions: lesser, middle (with supporters and motto), and greater (the middle arms on a red mantle lined with ermine). The coat of arms was designed by Transylvanian Hungarian József Sebestyén Keöpeczi, who was recommended by Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș.

People's Republic of Romania (1948-1965) and the Socialist Republic of Romania (1965-1992)

After 1948, the Communist authorities changed both the flag and the coat of arms. The coat of arms was rather an emblem, faithful to the Communist pattern: a landscape (depicting a rising sun, a tractor and an oil drill) surrounded by stocks of wheat tied together with a cloth in the colors of the national flag. Until 1989, there were four variants, the first being changed shortly after 1948 (the proclamation of the republic), again changed in 1952 (a red star was added), and finally in 1965, when Romania ceased to be a People's Republic and became a Socialist Republic.

Republic of Romania (1992-now)

Immediately after the 1989 Revolution, the idea came up of giving Romania a new, representative coat of arms. In fact, the very symbol of the Revolution was the flag with a hole in its middle where the communist coat of arms had been cut out.

The heraldic commission set up to design a new coat of arms for Romania worked intensely, subjecting to the Parliament two final designs which were then combined. What emerged is the current design adopted by the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament in their joint session on September 10, 1992.

In April 2016, deputies of the Judiciary Committee endorsed a bill voted previously by the Senate that returns the crown on the head of the eagle and mandates the public authorities to replace the existing emblems and seals to those provided by law no later than 31 December 2018 (to mark the centenary of the Union of Transylvania with Romania on 1 December 1918). The bill was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies on 8 June 2016 and promulgated by President Klaus Iohannis on 11 July 2016.