Following 1944, new times began for the Bulgarian heraldry. In the communist era, the traditional type of coat of arms was replaced by an emblem which preserved the golden lion rampant placed over a non-historically-justifiable oval azure field, but encircled by the ears of wheat, folded by banners, a gear-wheel, a five-pointed red star and some other elements. This composition was derived principally from the pattern of the emblem of the Soviet Union. After the breakdown of the Bulgarian socialist republic in 1989 and several years of fierce partisan disputes, the traditional middle coat of arms from the period 1927–1946 was restored in 1991 with some minor changes.