The Coat of Arms and the Seal

      In the year 1781, the town of Timisoara received all the
   privileges and was elevated to the rank of free town; the letter
   of accreditation contained the confirmation of the seal and coat
   of arms.  The coat of arms is divided in twice horizontally and
   vertically.  The top left corner contains four silver stripes on
   a red background symbolizing the four rivers that cross Hungary.
      On the top right corner on a golden background, on a green
   foundation is the old water tower of the Timisoara fortress and
   through its open gate reveals a mill wheel. Both to the left and
   right of the tower there is a purple flag and a silver cross.
   On the lower left corner, is a sun, with a human face, above the
   town, and, at the right, a darker decreasing half moon
   symbolizing the Turks defeated by the Christians. The fortress
   is represented under these symbols ready for defense; on the
   right the river Bega flows supplied by Timis. In the middle of
   the coat of arms there is a shield on which an imperial double
   headed crowned eagle is shown having in its paws a silver sword
   and the imperial signs with a cross and on the chest the
   initials JII (Josef the IInd). There are also two white horses
   and a simple crown represented on the coat of arms [7].  On the
   new coat of arms from 1919, the Austrian-Hungarian symbols were
   replaced by those corresponding to the Romanian monarchy; the
   ones pertaining to Timisoara stayed. The crown was replaced by
   seven towers, probably representing the seven historical
   Romanian provinces; the four rivers were replaced by the
   Traian bridge having a lion on top of it, the water tower on the
   right, in the middle a simplified fortress, the sun and the half
   moon were kept, but the horses were gone. In 1972 the Communist
   regime introduced a new coat of arms; the seven towers
   disappeared, instead of Traian bridge and the lion, an electric
   engine on a wall stand appeared, as a symbol of industrial
   development and technical progress; the water tower and the
   fortress stayed, but the aspect of the sun and half moon were
   changed. The actual coat of arms, after 1989, is in the course
   of approval, and there can be seen an important change on it,
   the tricolor flag at the right and on top of the tower has a
   hole in the yellow part, as did the tricolor worn by the crowds
   during those December days of 1989 [8].