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The Coat of Arms of Hungary was adopted in July 1990, after the end of the Socialist regime, although it has been used before, both with and without the crown, sometimes as part of a larger, more complex coat of arms, and many of its elements date back to the Middle Ages.
It is usually said that the white stripes represent four rivers (Duna, Tisza, Dráva, Száva) and the hills represent three mountain ranges (Mátra, Tátra, Fátra), but it is a theory that's historically unfounded.
History of the Coat of Arms
The most ancient element of the coat of arms is the double cross, which shows Byzantine influence. It appeared around 1190 during the reign of King Béla III who was raised in the Byzantine court. On later versions three hills and a crown appear at the foot of the cross.
The red and white stripes were the symbol of the House of Árpád and they were first used in the coat of arms in 1202 on a seal of King Imre. This seal didn't include the double cross, only the stripes, and there were nine lions on the white stripes. This coat of arms was used for a short time only, Béla IV used the one wih the double cross again.
When the House of Árpád became extinct, and the Angevins came into power, they wanted to emphasize their legitimacy and their relation to the previous royal house by using the Árpáds' coat of arms, the red and white stripes; later they combine this coat of arms with their own, using a coat of arms that resembles the one that's used now, but with the Anjou lily in place of the cross.
The coat of arms with the stripes on the left and the cross on the hills on the right appears during he reign of Louis I (13421382). The crown above the coat of arms appears during the reign of Ulászló I (Vladislaus, 14401444). For the history of the Holy Crown see the article Crown of St. Stephen.
In the following centuries the coat of arms of Hungary became more and more complex, they included the coats of arms of the conquered territories like Croatia, Dalmatia, Serbia, but the so-called "small coat of arms" always remained the central piece. (The more complex ones were called "middle ~" and "large coat of arms".) When Hungary became part of the Habsburg Empire, the coat of arms became a part of that of the Empire, but later it became of marginal importance and during the reign of Joseph II it was left off the coins.
During the Revolution and War of Independence in 1848-49 the small coat of arms was adopted. In December 1848 Louis Kossuth modified it, removing the Holy Crown, indicating that Hungary became an independent nation without a monarch. The small coat of arms without the Holy Crown is usually referred to as "Kossuth's Coat of Arms" today (foreigners might find it a somewhat misleading name, since it was not the coat of arms of the Kossuth family).
After the revolution was repressed, this coat of arms wasn't used again until 1868, the compromise between Austria and Hungary, when the small coat of arms again became a part of a more complex coat of arms representing several countries belonging to Austria-Hungary. In 1918 the Kossuth-style coat of arms was used again for a short while, then the official coat of arms was the small one (with the Holy Crown) again. During World War II Nazi symbols were added to it. Between 1946 and 1949 the Kossuth-style coat of arms was used, then the Communist regime created a new coat of arms which was used till 1990.
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