The Coat of arms of Budapest exists since 1873 when the three main cities next the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 river (Buda

Buda

For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...

, Pest and Óbuda

Óbuda

Óbuda was a historical city in Hungary. United with Buda and Pest in 1873 it now forms part of District III-Óbuda-Békásmegyer of Budapest. The name means Old Buda in Hungarian...

) were united in one after existing during a millennium separately. The city committee that was planning the city's unification asked the masterpainter Lajos Friedrich that design the coat of arms based in the cities' previous symbols and coats.

Description of the coat of arms

The coat of arms is composed by two blasons: the superior contains a castle with one tower that represents Pest, as well the inferior a three towered castle that actually symbolizes Buda (were is located the Royal Palace of Buda

Buda Castle

Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest, first completed in 1265. In the past, it was also called Royal Palace and Royal Castle ....

). The undulated white stripe in the middle of both blasons represents the Danube river which separates Buda and Pest (passing through the middle of the city). On the top of the coat of arms lies the Crown of the King Saint Stephen, and a two legs standing lion grabs with its protector claws the city symbol on the left side, as a mythological griffin

Griffin

The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...

stands on the right side.

History

After Hungary was invaded by the soviet armies, soon the coat of arms lost the Holy Crown on it, and was used from 1945 to 1964 without it. Between 1964 and 1990 a new coat of arms was used, avoiding to use the traditional Hungarian symbols that didn't match with the communist ideals. After the fall of the Soviet Union Hunagry recovered it's independence and in 1990 the original coat of arms created in 1873 was again reestablished.