Coat of arms of Romania
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Coat of arms of Romania | |
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, in the header of the official documents (including diplomas) |
The coat of arms of Romania was adopted in the Romanian Parliament on 10 September 1992 as a representative coat of arms for Romania. The current coat of arms is based on the lesser coat of arms of interwar Kingdom of Romania (used between 1922 and 1947), which was designed in 1921 by the Transylvanian Hungarian heraldist József Sebestyén from Cluj, at the request of King Ferdinand I of Romania, it was redesigned by Victor Dima.[1] As a central element, it shows a golden aquila holding a cross in its beak, and a mace and a sword in its claws. It also consists of the three colors (red, yellow, and blue) which represent the colors of the national flag. The coat of arms was augmented on 11 July 2016 to add a representation of the Steel Crown of Romania.
History
The idea behind the design of the coat of arms of
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
The coat of arms remained unchanged until 1921, after
After 1948, the
Immediately after the
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
Description
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Symbols of Romania |
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The shield surmounting the eagle is divided into five fields, one for each historical province of Romania with its traditional symbol:
- golden aquila – Wallachia (Țara Românească)
- aurochs – Moldavia (Moldova), Bukovina (Bucovina) and Maramureș
- dolphins – the seaside: Southern Bessarabia/Budjak (1867–1878) and Dobruja (after 1878)
- a black aquila for Crișana and seven castles, a sun and a moon for Transylvania (Transilvania)
- lion and Trajan's Bridge– Oltenia, Banat and Timok Valley
Since July 11, 2016 the coat of arms has been altered to include the heraldic representation of the Steel Crown of King Carol. A symbol of its royal past and a token for the period during 1881 and 1947 when Romania was a monarchy, ruled by the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen house through its Romanian branch, founded by Carol.
The aquila, being the symbol of Latinity and a heraldic bird of the first order, symbolises courage, determination, the soaring toward great heights, power, grandeur. It is to be found also in Transylvania's coat of arms.
The shield on which it is placed is azure, symbolising the sky. The eagle holds in its talons the insignia of sovereignty: a mace and a sword, the latter reminding of Moldavia's ruler, Stephen the Great whereas the mace reminds of Michael the Brave, the first unifier of the Romanian Countries. On the bird's chest there is a quartered escutcheon with the symbols of the historical Romanian provinces (Wallachia, Oltenia, Moldavia, Bessarabia, Transylvania, the Banat, Crisana, Maramureș) as well as two dolphins reminding of the country's Black Sea Coast (Dobruja).
In the first quarter, Wallachia's coat of arms, an aquila or holding in its beak a golden Orthodox cross, accompanied by a golden sun on the right and a golden new moon on the left, is displayed against an azure background.
In the second quarter, Moldavia's traditional coat of arms is shown, gules: an aurochs head sable with a mullet of or between its horns, a cinquefoil rose on the dexter and a waning crescent on the sinister, both argent.
The third quarter features the traditional coat of arms of the Banat and Oltenia, gules: over waves, a golden bridge with two arched openings (symbolising
The fourth quarter shows the coat of arms of Transylvania, Maramureș and Crișana: a shield parted by a narrow fesse, gules; in the chief, on azure, there is a black aquila with golden beak coming out of the fesse, accompanied by a golden sun on the dexter and a crescent argent on the sinister (symbolizing the Székelys); on the base, on or, there are seven crenellated towers, placed four and three (symbolizing the Saxons).
Also represented are the lands adjacent to the Black Sea (Dobruja), on azure: two dolphins affronts, head down.
Gallery
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Coat of arms of Wallachia
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Coat of arms of Moldavia
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Coat of arms of Transylvania
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Coat of arms of Dobruja
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One of the many drawings used unofficially as coat of arms (1864 – 1866)
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Coat of arms of thePrincipality of Romania(1867 – 1872)
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Coat of arms of the Principality of Romania (1872 – 1881)
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Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania (1881 – 1922)
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The lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania (1921 – 1947), used on official stamps and seals
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The middle coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania (1921 – 1947), used by the Romanian Army and the State authorities
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The Great Coat of Arms according to the Official Gazette, no. 92 of 29 July 1921. (1921 – 1947)
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Coat of arms of the Romanian People's Republic (January – March 1948)
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Coat of arms of the Romanian People's Republic (March 1948 – 1952)
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Coat of arms of the Romanian People's Republic (1952 – 1965)
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Coat of arms of the Socialist Republic of Romania (1965 – 1989) and Romania (1989 – 1992)
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Coat of arms of Romania (1992 – 2016)
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The coat of arms of Romania since 2016 (fully replaced the previous version by the end of 2018)
See also
- Romanian heraldry
- Emblem of the Socialist Republic of Romania
- Coat of arms of Moldova
References
- ^ "Creatorul stemei României, fără drepturi de autor" (in Romanian). Adevărul. 27 February 2010. Archived from the original on Aug 29, 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5, retrieved 2022-12-24
- ^ "The Hungarian designer behind Romania's coat of arm". Transylvania Now. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
- ^ Drăgan-George Basarabă, "Marea Unire și identitatea heraldică a Banatului", in Heraldica Moldaviae, Vol. IV, 2021, pp. 174–175
- ^ "Senatul a aprobat modificarea stemei Romaniei. Cum va arata noul simbol" (in Romanian). Pro TV. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ Cătălina Mănoiu (19 April 2016). "Data până la care trebuie readusă coroana pe stema țării". Gândul.
- ^ "Camera Deputaților a adoptat proiectul care modifică stema țării". Mediafax (in Romanian). 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
- ^ "Coroana revine pe stema României. Iohannis a promulgat legea care modifică însemnele oficiale – FOTO" (in Romanian). Mediafax. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
External links
- Law establishing the coat of arms of Romania (1867), adopted on 24 April 1867.
- Law modifying the coat of arms of Romania (1872), published in the Monitorul Oficial no. 57 of 11/23 March 1872.
- Law establishing the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Romania... (1921), published in the Monitorul Oficial no. 92 of 29 July 1921, pp. 3569–3573
- Law 102/1992 describing the coat of arms
- Law 30/2016 concerning the change of the Law 102/1992
- The coat of arms on the Romanian Presidency website
- Description of Romania's coat of arms on romania.org