Short History of the so-called Kossuth Coat of Arms after 1956

The so-called Kossuth coat of arms (together with the national flag with a hole in the middle) became the symbol of the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1956. Although the Soviet Union repressed the Hungarian Revolution on 4 November 1956, the Kossuth coat of arms remained the symbol of the state from late 1956 to early 1957. Moreover, a peculiar version of it (the second field of the coat of arms changed from red to blue) appeared. At the time of the fall of communism in Hungary, an important question was which version of the historical forms of the Hungarian coat of arms would become the state symbol. For the Hungarians, the Kossuth coat of arms is the symbol of the revolution, while the coat of arms with the Holy Crown of Hungary symbolizes the thousand- year-old statehood. The proclamation of the Republic of Hungary was on 23 October 1989 (on the 33rd anniversary of the Revolution of 1956) and the Kossuth coat of arms was also very popular. Finally, the ‘full form’ of the Hungarian coat of arms (with the crown) became official, expressing that the Holy Crown is a symbol of the Hungarian statehood, regardless of the form of government.