diff --git a/src/actions.c b/src/actions.c
index 006331ff..4f589757 100644
--- a/src/actions.c
+++ b/src/actions.c
@@ -2436,13 +2436,15 @@ int place_text(int draw_text, double mx, double my)
   t->flags |= strcmp(str, "italic")  ? 0 : TEXT_ITALIC;
   str = get_tok_value(t->prop_ptr, "weight", 0);
   t->flags |= strcmp(str, "bold")  ? 0 : TEXT_BOLD;
+  str = get_tok_value(t->prop_ptr, "hide", 0);
+  t->flags |= strcmp(str, "true")  ? 0 : SYM_HIDE_TEXT;
 
   my_strdup(21, &t->font, get_tok_value(t->prop_ptr, "font", 0));
   textlayer = t->layer;
   if(textlayer < 0 || textlayer >= cadlayers) textlayer = TEXTLAYER;
   #if HAS_CAIRO==1
   textfont = t->font;
-  if((textfont && textfont[0]) || t->flags) {
+  if((textfont && textfont[0]) || (t->flags & (TEXT_BOLD | TEXT_OBLIQUE | TEXT_ITALIC))) {
     cairo_font_slant_t slant;
     cairo_font_weight_t weight;
     textfont = (t->font && t->font[0]) ? t->font : tclgetvar("cairo_font_name");
@@ -2463,7 +2465,7 @@ int place_text(int draw_text, double mx, double my)
   }
   xctx->draw_window = save_draw;
   #if HAS_CAIRO==1
-  if((textfont && textfont[0]) || t->flags) {
+  if((textfont && textfont[0]) || (t->flags & (TEXT_BOLD | TEXT_OBLIQUE | TEXT_ITALIC))) {
     cairo_restore(xctx->cairo_ctx);
     cairo_restore(xctx->cairo_save_ctx);
   }
diff --git a/src/draw.c b/src/draw.c
index f40aea6b..73e201a7 100644
--- a/src/draw.c
+++ b/src/draw.c
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ int set_text_custom_font(xText *txt) /* 20171122 for correct text_bbox calculati
   const char *textfont;
 
   textfont = txt->font;
-  if((textfont && textfont[0]) || txt->flags) {
+  if((textfont && textfont[0]) || (txt->flags & (TEXT_BOLD | TEXT_OBLIQUE | TEXT_ITALIC))) {
     cairo_font_slant_t slant;
     cairo_font_weight_t weight;
     textfont = (txt->font && txt->font[0]) ? txt->font : tclgetvar("cairo_font_name");
@@ -481,6 +481,7 @@ void draw_symbol(int what,int c, int n,int layer,short tmp_flip, short rot,
     {
       text = symptr->text[j];
       if(text.xscale*FONTWIDTH*xctx->mooz<1) continue;
+      if(symptr->text[j].flags & SYM_HIDE_TEXT) continue;
       if( hide && text.txt_ptr && strcmp(text.txt_ptr, "@symname") && strcmp(text.txt_ptr, "@name") ) continue;
       txtptr= translate(n, text.txt_ptr);
       ROTATION(rot, flip, 0.0,0.0,text.x0,text.y0,x1,y1);
@@ -494,7 +495,7 @@ void draw_symbol(int what,int c, int n,int layer,short tmp_flip, short rot,
       if(xctx->inst[n].color == -PINLAYER || xctx->enable_layer[textlayer]) {
         #if HAS_CAIRO==1
         textfont = symptr->text[j].font;
-        if((textfont && textfont[0]) || symptr->text[j].flags) {
+        if((textfont && textfont[0]) || (symptr->text[j].flags & (TEXT_BOLD | TEXT_OBLIQUE | TEXT_ITALIC))) {
           cairo_font_slant_t slant;
           cairo_font_weight_t weight;
           textfont = (symptr->text[j].font && symptr->text[j].font[0]) ?
@@ -519,7 +520,7 @@ void draw_symbol(int what,int c, int n,int layer,short tmp_flip, short rot,
         drawline(textlayer, END, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0);
         #endif
         #if HAS_CAIRO==1
-        if( (textfont && textfont[0]) || symptr->text[j].flags) {
+        if( (textfont && textfont[0]) || (symptr->text[j].flags & (TEXT_BOLD | TEXT_OBLIQUE | TEXT_ITALIC))) {
           cairo_restore(xctx->cairo_ctx);
           cairo_restore(xctx->cairo_save_ctx);
         }
@@ -2685,7 +2686,8 @@ void draw(void)
             #if HAS_CAIRO==1
             if(!xctx->enable_layer[textlayer]) continue;
             textfont = xctx->text[i].font;
-            if( (textfont && textfont[0]) || xctx->text[i].flags) {
+            if( (textfont && textfont[0]) || 
+                (xctx->text[i].flags & (TEXT_BOLD | TEXT_OBLIQUE | TEXT_ITALIC))) {
               cairo_font_slant_t slant;
               cairo_font_weight_t weight;
               textfont = (xctx->text[i].font && xctx->text[i].font[0]) ? 
@@ -2706,7 +2708,8 @@ void draw(void)
               xctx->text[i].x0,xctx->text[i].y0,
               xctx->text[i].xscale, xctx->text[i].yscale);
             #if HAS_CAIRO==1
-            if((textfont && textfont[0]) || xctx->text[i].flags ) {
+            if( (textfont && textfont[0]) || 
+                (xctx->text[i].flags & (TEXT_BOLD | TEXT_OBLIQUE | TEXT_ITALIC))) {
               cairo_restore(xctx->cairo_ctx);
               cairo_restore(xctx->cairo_save_ctx);
             }
diff --git a/src/editprop.c b/src/editprop.c
index 8386b0aa..625c0496 100644
--- a/src/editprop.c
+++ b/src/editprop.c
@@ -854,6 +854,8 @@ static void edit_text_property(int x)
          xctx->text[sel].flags |= strcmp(str, "italic")  ? 0 : TEXT_ITALIC;
          str = get_tok_value(xctx->text[sel].prop_ptr, "weight", 0);
          xctx->text[sel].flags |= strcmp(str, "bold")  ? 0 : TEXT_BOLD;
+         str = get_tok_value(xctx->text[sel].prop_ptr, "hide", 0);
+         xctx->text[sel].flags |= strcmp(str, "true")  ? 0 : SYM_HIDE_TEXT;
          if(k == 0 ) {
            hsize =atof(tclgetvar("hsize"));
            vsize =atof(tclgetvar("vsize"));
diff --git a/src/move.c b/src/move.c
index f65d9a32..aa381d47 100644
--- a/src/move.c
+++ b/src/move.c
@@ -916,6 +916,8 @@ void copy_objects(int what)
         xctx->text[xctx->texts].flags |= strcmp(str, "italic")  ? 0 : TEXT_ITALIC;
         str = get_tok_value(xctx->text[xctx->texts].prop_ptr, "weight", 0);
         xctx->text[xctx->texts].flags |= strcmp(str, "bold")  ? 0 : TEXT_BOLD;
+        str = get_tok_value(xctx->text[xctx->texts].prop_ptr, "hide", 0);
+        xctx->text[xctx->texts].flags |= strcmp(str, "true")  ? 0 : SYM_HIDE_TEXT;
   
         xctx->text[xctx->texts].xscale=xctx->text[n].xscale;
         xctx->text[xctx->texts].yscale=xctx->text[n].yscale;
diff --git a/src/paste.c b/src/paste.c
index 09bed40b..7f7342dd 100644
--- a/src/paste.c
+++ b/src/paste.c
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ void merge_text(FILE *fd)
      xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "italic")  ? 0 : TEXT_ITALIC;
      str = get_tok_value(xctx->text[i].prop_ptr, "weight", 0);
      xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "bold")  ? 0 : TEXT_BOLD;
+     str = get_tok_value(xctx->text[i].prop_ptr, "hide", 0);
+     xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "true")  ? 0 : SYM_HIDE_TEXT;
 
      select_text(i,SELECTED, 1);
      set_modify(1);
diff --git a/src/save.c b/src/save.c
index d6fd58a9..479a5878 100644
--- a/src/save.c
+++ b/src/save.c
@@ -498,10 +498,12 @@ static void load_text(FILE *fd)
    else xctx->text[i].layer = -1;
    xctx->text[i].flags = 0;
    str = get_tok_value(xctx->text[i].prop_ptr, "slant", 0);
-   xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "oblique")  ? 0 : TEXT_OBLIQUE;
-   xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "italic")  ? 0 : TEXT_ITALIC;
+   xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "oblique") ? 0 : TEXT_OBLIQUE;
+   xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "italic") ? 0 : TEXT_ITALIC;
    str = get_tok_value(xctx->text[i].prop_ptr, "weight", 0);
-   xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "bold")  ? 0 : TEXT_BOLD;
+   xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "bold") ? 0 : TEXT_BOLD;
+   str = get_tok_value(xctx->text[i].prop_ptr, "hide", 0);
+   xctx->text[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "true") ? 0 : SYM_HIDE_TEXT;
 
    xctx->texts++;
 }
@@ -2000,6 +2002,8 @@ int load_sym_def(const char *name, FILE *embed_fd)
      tt[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "italic")  ? 0 : TEXT_ITALIC;
      str = get_tok_value(tt[i].prop_ptr, "weight", 0);
      tt[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "bold")  ? 0 : TEXT_BOLD;
+     str = get_tok_value(tt[i].prop_ptr, "hide", 0);
+     tt[i].flags |= strcmp(str, "true")  ? 0 : SYM_HIDE_TEXT;
      lastt++;
      break;
     case 'N': /* store wires as lines on layer WIRELAYER. */
diff --git a/src/xschem.h b/src/xschem.h
index 9374ceb7..5f7a88c3 100644
--- a/src/xschem.h
+++ b/src/xschem.h
@@ -267,10 +267,12 @@ extern char win_temp_dir[PATH_MAX];
 #define XDELETE 2
 #define XINSERT_NOREPLACE 3 /* do not replace token value in hash if already present */
 
-/* Cairo text flags */
+/* Cairo text flags (.flags field) */
 #define TEXT_BOLD 1
 #define TEXT_OBLIQUE 2
 #define TEXT_ITALIC 4
+/* flag (.flags field) to hide text in symbols when displaying instances */
+#define SYM_HIDE_TEXT 8
 
 #define S(a) (sizeof(a)/sizeof(char))
 #define BUS_WIDTH 4
diff --git a/src/xschem.tcl b/src/xschem.tcl
index 7693c524..7116fd33 100644
--- a/src/xschem.tcl
+++ b/src/xschem.tcl
@@ -2094,7 +2094,7 @@ proc enter_text {textlabel {preserve_disabled disabled}} {
   wm geometry .dialog "+$X+$Y"
   frame .dialog.f1
   label .dialog.f1.txtlab -text $textlabel
-  text .dialog.txt -width 100 -height 12
+  text .dialog.txt -width 100 -height 4
   .dialog.txt delete 1.0 end
   .dialog.txt insert 1.0 $retval
   checkbutton .dialog.f1.l1 -text "preserve unchanged props" -variable preserve_unchanged_attrs \
diff --git a/xschem_library/examples/mos_power_ampli.sym b/xschem_library/examples/mos_power_ampli.sym
index 08bc29f6..9099ea62 100644
--- a/xschem_library/examples/mos_power_ampli.sym
+++ b/xschem_library/examples/mos_power_ampli.sym
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-v {xschem version=2.9.9 file_version=1.2 }
+v {xschem version=3.0.0 file_version=1.2 }
 G {}
 K {type=subcircuit
 format="@name @pinlist @symname"
@@ -32,3 +32,4 @@ T {VSS} -125 -4 0 0 0.2 0.2 {}
 T {OUT} 125 -44 0 1 0.2 0.2 {}
 T {VPP} -125 16 0 0 0.2 0.2 {}
 T {VNN} -125 36 0 0 0.2 0.2 {}
+T {MOS Power amplifier} -110 -90 0 0 0.4 0.4 {hide=true}