Attila István Szekeres: The Changes of the Civic Coats of Arms on the Territory of Szeklerland after the Union of Transylvania and Romania (original) (raw)

2018, ACTA TERRAE FOGARASIENSIS

Abstract

After the World War I, the Kingdom of Romania extended to include Transylvania, part of Banat, the Criş region, the southern part of the historical Maramureş, Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia, intended to indicate the change in its symbols as well. After the change of power the references to Hungary were removed from the coats of arms, what is more, the coat of arms of Turda County was entirely Romanianised, however, more to the East, Szekler symbols were still preserved. The coat of arms of Trei Scaune County was preserved in its entirety, it was only edited in accordance with the template of the age. The coat of arms of Udvarhely Seat, then County mostly survived into the coat of arms of Odorhei County, the sun and the moon pair in any case, only in reverse order. The coat of arms of Csík, Gyergyó and Kászon Seats, then Csík County was partly transposed into the coat of arms of Ciuc County, but the sun – albeit not with coating Or but Gules –, and the moon crescent remained. In the case of Mureş County, the apple tree as well as two straight lines instead of the three wavy lines – the rivers Mureş, Târnava Mică and Niraj –, survived from the 1753 coat of arms of the former Maros Seat into the 1878 coat of arms of Maros-Torda County. After the change of power Târgu Mureş preserved its old coat of arms, slightly altered and augmented, but the heraldic charge of the old Szekler coat of arms survived. Odorheiu Secuiesc preserved its old coat of arms also in the interwar period, with a slight modification. At the change of power the coat of arms of Sfântu Gheorghe conferred in 1897 was roughly modified, however, the pair of the sun and moon crescent in field Azure survived. To sum up the changes in the coats of arms of territorial-administrative units, it can be stated that the old Szekler coat of arms survived from the symbol of the former Háromszék Seat into the coat of arms of Trei Scaune County and it also survived in the coats of arms of Târgu Mureş and Odorheiu Secuiesc. The sun-moon pair forming the new Szekler coat of arms survived in the coat of arms of Sfântu Gheorghe and it also figured in the coat of arms of the former Ciuc County. Although indirectly, the sun-moon pair symbolizing the Szeklers, as part of the coat of arms of Transylvania, was included in the coat of arms of Romania sanctioned by law in 1921, and also in the coat of arms of the country adopted in 1992 and augmented in 2016.

Figures (10)

Key takeaways

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  1. The sun-moon pair symbolizing the Szeklers was incorporated into the Romanian coat of arms in 1921.
  2. Szekler symbols largely remained intact despite attempts to Romanianize coats of arms post-WWI.
  3. Trei Scaune County's coat of arms was preserved without significant modifications after administrative unification in 1925.
  4. The coat of arms of Turda County was completely Romanianized, reflecting national identity shifts.
  5. This text outlines the evolution of civic heraldry in Szeklerland following the union of Transylvania and Romania.

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References (14)

  1. According to our present knowledge the coat of arms of Transylvania with all its component parts first appeared on the commemorative lead coin issued in 1580 by Christopher Báthori, Voivode of Transylvania (cf. Szekeres A.I., A székely címer [The Szekler Coat of Arms], in Mihály János (ed.), "Jelképek a Székelyföldön -Címerek, pecsétek, zászlók [Symbols in Szeklerland -Coats of Arms, Seals, Flags]", Miercurea Ciuc, 2011, 15-28; Idem, Székely jelképek [The Szekler symbols], Háromszék Vármegye, Sepsiszentgyörgy, 2013; Idem, Te Sun and Crescent in the seal of the Szekler community, in "Acta Siculica 2014-2015", A Székely Nemzeti Múzeum Évkönyve, Sepsiszentgyörgy, 2015, p. 117-129; Idem, Stema comunității secuiești [The coat of arms of the Szekler community], in Szekeres A.I., Pál-Antal Sándor, Mihály János, Simboluri istorice secuiești [Historical Szekler symbols], Centrul Jude- ţean pentru Conservarea şi Promovarea Culturii Tradiţionale Harghita, Odorheiu Secuiesc, 2017, p. 11-70.
  2. Szilágyi Sándor (szerk.), Monumenta Comitalia Regni Transilvaniae. Erdélyi Ország- gyűlési Emlékek XII. (1658-1661), Budapest, 1887, 291, p. 310.
  3. Royal Decree no. 2.465 issued on 25 September 1925, published in "OG" No. 220 on 7 October 1925.
  4. Royal Decree no. 2079 issued on 1 August 1928, published in "OG" No. 222 on 6 August 1928, 8.278-8.283.
  5. Memoriu asupra stemelor județelor, 8.282-8.283.
  6. Royal Decree no. 5.857 issued on 29 July 1930, published in "OG" no. 171 on 2 August 1930.
  7. Royal Decree no. 2.935 issued on 11 August 1930, published in "OG" no. 186 on 21 August 1930, 7.090-7.092.
  8. Royal Decree no. 2.856 issued on 3 August 1931, published in "OG" no. 182 on 8 August 1931. 40 Royal Decree no. 3236 issued on 28 November 1934, published in "OG" no. 279 on 3 December 1934.
  9. "Christ is my hope".
  10. OG 1931/182, 6.626.
  11. Fond 3 -Comisia Consultativă Heraldică, inventory number: 1.066.
  12. Dossier no. 70 -Trei Scaune -file Háromszék, document no. 1: coat of arms painting on cardcoard, with a reference number on its back: 8.041/1931.
  13. Maria Dogaru, Din heraldica României [From the Heraldry of Romania], Bucharest, Editura JIF, 1994, p. 90.
  14. Painted on cardboard with water-based paint, it is an identical copy of the coat of arms figuring in the deed of gift preserved in the Székely National Museum (historical department, inventory no. 1.919/47), painted by Ernst Krahl. This drawing is slighty more vivid in its colours than the one figuring in the deed of gift. Based on the style of the inscription below it it is highly probable that it was painted by József Sebestyén Keöpeczi.