The first paper of that name was edited by Romanian revolutionaries in Bolshevist Russia, appearing throughout 1919 in the city of Odessa.

In the wake of King Michael's Coup of 23 August 1944 and Romania's withdrawing from the Axis and joining the Allies, Scânteia was yet again being published, to remain the approved, sanctioning, body of communist politics.

During Communist Romania (since early 1948), the newspaper was the barometer of policy changes, and the main medium through which the regime indicated its aims (for example, Scînteia served as the tribune for slander campaigns against intellectuals such as Tudor Arghezi).

Moreover, in 1961, August 15, the date on which the newspaper had first been published in Romania 30 years previously, was declared the Romanian Press Day — indicative of the relationship between the official voice and other media.

The headquarters of the paper were the main feature of the Socialist Realist Combinatul Poligrafic Casa Scînteii "I.V.