Budapest arms & colours. Throughout the centuries (Budapest, 1998)

of the Hungarian Republic, it was only the crown and the heraldic supporters that disappeared.

23 Then, with the country's loss of independence in 1948, the independent use of the city arms got gradually reduced as well. /Plate XI/ It was the centennary celebrations in 1973 that made the new arms of the capital widely known and popular, when increased attention was focussed on the history of Buda, Pest, Óbuda /as well as Margaret Island/, and on the circumstances of their unification one hundred years before. The present arms and colours of the city of Budapest owe their existence to the political changes in 1989- After the country became independent and the Hungarian Republic was proclaimed, the management of the capital — on the recommendation of a Committee appointed by the Municipality of Budapest — decided to re-adopt the coat of arms established in 1873, and to include it in the banner as well. 5