The Steel Crown of King Carol I of Romania was forged at the Army Arsenal (Arsenalul Armatei) in Bucharest of the steel of a cannon captured by the Romanian Army from the Ottomans during the War of Independence (1877-1878). Carol I chose steel, and not gold, to symbolize the bravery of the Romanian soldiers. He received it during the ceremonies of his coronation and of the proclamation of Romania as akingdom in 1881. It is the same Crown used in 1922 at the coronation of King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria as sovereigns of Romania, which took place in Alba-Iulia. The Crown was used also during the coronation and anointing as King ofMichael I by the Orthodox Patriarch of Romania, Nicodim Munteanu, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest, on the very day of his second accession, September 6, 1940.