Герб Бухареста: История и символика

Heraldic coat of arms symbolizing Bucharest, Romania

The coat of arms of Bucharest is the heraldic symbol of the capital city of Romania. The present day coat of arms was adopted by Domnitor (Ruling Prince) Alexandru Ioan Cuza, and changed under the Communist regime. In 1994, it was renewed again with minor alterations. The saint, who is the city's patron, is commonly referred to as simply Saint Dimitrie (Demetrius), thus bearing the same name as the 4th century Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki—today's arms seem to represent the latter, as the person depicted is dressed in a Roman uniform.

An early heraldic symbol for Bucharest was first used on seals of the town's judet (mayor) and pârgari (town council) as early as the 16th century: it usually featured images of the Madonna and Child or the Annunciation, and was accompanied by an inscription in either Church Slavonic or Romanian, which were simply variations of the phrase "this is the seal of Bucharest". Under the Organic Statute rule of Pavel Kiselyov, the city was awarded the new symbol of a standing woman wearing a shoulder sash and carrying the Scales of Justice (in 1862, the woman was seated, carrying both the scales and, in her left hand, flowers and ears of wheat). The 1970 coat of arms consisted of an escutcheon divided party per fess; chief, landscaped, an eagle, or, wings displayed, facing sinister, over the image of the Palace of the Patriarchate, argent, on an azure field; over a cogwheel, or, with an open book with the lettered motto CIVITAS (verso) and NOSTRA (recto) (reading "Civitas Nostra" (Latin for "Our City"), or, on a field, gules; with an inescutcheon divided party per pale, dexter a hammer and sickle (symbol of the Romanian Communist Party)) on a field, gules, sinister the flag of Romania, the inescutcheon charged with the crest of Communist Romania.