^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Krapina-Zagorje County (Croatia)

Krapinsko-zagorska županija

image by Željko Heimer, 12 January 2007

Subdivisions of Krapina-Zagorje County

Towns
Donja Stubica
Klanjec
Krapina (County seat)
Oroslavje
Pregrada
Zabok
Zlatar

Municipalities:

Democratic Party of Zagorje - ZDS

See also:

Presentation of Krapina-Zagorje County

The Krapina-Zagorje County is situated north of Zagreb, towards the Slovenian border. The area is considered as a typical rural surrounding of the capital, although it is industrialized, mostly with light industry. On numerous hills there are many medieval and baroque castles and parks, so the coat of arms is rightly chosen. The county is the cradle of one of the three main Croatian dialects, kajkavski.

Željko Heimer, 21 October 1998

Flag of Krapina-Zagorje County

The symbols of Krapino-Zagorje County are prescribed by Decision Odluka o izmjenama i dopunama Odluke o opisu i uporabi grba i zastave Krapinsko-zagorske županije, adopted on 17 December 1999 by the County Assembly and published on 29 December 1999 in the County official gazette Službeni glasnik Krapinsko-zagorske županije, No. 17.
Decision Statutarna odluka o opisu i uporabi grba i zastave Krapinsko- zagorske županije, adopted on 11 March 2005 by the County Assembly and published on 14 March 2005 in Službeni glasnik Krapinsko-zagorske županije, No. 2, is for the most part the consolidated text of previous Decisions (therefore abrogated), including approval of the symbols on 8 May 2005 by the Ministry of Justice, Administration and Local Self-Administration.
The new Statutes of the Krapina-Zagorje County do not describe the symbols only mentioning them. However, the agenda of the 4th Session of the County Assembly, held on 17 December 2009, includes a proposal of amendments to the Decision on the County's symbols. I suppose that the amendments are only minor, as in other cases in 2009, amending only duties of the County Mayors in regard with the grant of use of the symbols for commercial business.

The Commission tasked to issue a public contest for the design of the symbols of the County was appointed by Decision Odluka o osnivanju i imenovanju članova Povjerenstva za utvrđivanje prijedloga grba i zastave Krapinsko-zagorske županije, adopted on 27 March 1998 by the County Assermbly and published on 11 May 1998 in Službeni glasnik Krapinsko-zagorske županije, No. 2. Decision Odluka o izjeni Odluke o osnivanju i imenovanju članova Povjerenstva za utvrđivanje prijedloga grba i zastave Krapinsko-zagorske županije, adopted on 23 July 1998 by the County Assermbly and published on 10 August 1998 in Službeni glasnik Krapinsko-zagorske županije, No. 6, amends the task assigned to the Commission; the requirement to work in consensus with all the members of the County Assembly and all the loca Representatives was removed.

The flag is dark red (CMYK 10-100-100-0) with yellow (CMYK 0-0-100- 0; "golden" in the Decision) stripes along the top and the bottom, each having a width of 1/10 of the flag width. In the middle of the flag is placed the coat of arms bordered in yellow.

The symbols were designed by the Heraldic Art d.o.o company from Rijeka, winner of a public contest.

Željko Heimer, 9 September 2011

Coat of arms of Krapina-Zagorje County

Coat of arms of Krapina-Zagorje County - Image by Željko Heimer, 8 October 2000

The coat of arms of the Krapina-Zagorje County is described in the aforementioned Decision as follows:

Semi-circular shield vertically divided. Horizontally divided with embattled divisions producing four fields in the shield. Fields one and four are red while fields two and three are golden. In the chief are three six-pointed stars, the first star golden, the second star vertically divided into golden to the left and red to the right, and the third star red.

The description of the coat of arms in the published text of the original Decision, actually, by omission, lacks the description of the central star. The error was corrected in Ispravak Odluke o izmjenama i dopunama Odluke o opisu i uporabi grba i zastave Krapinsko-zagorske županije, published on 31 January 2000 in Službeni glasnik Krapinsko-zagorske županije, No. 1.

A more heraldic description of the arms could be "Per pale and per bend the latter embattled gules and or and overall in chief three six-pointed stars counterchanged".
The red shade on the coat of arms is prescribed as lighter (CMYK 0-80-100-0) than on the flag.

Željko Heimer, 6 September 2011

Ceremonial flag of Krapina-Zagorje County

Ceremonial flag of Krapina-Zagorje County, left, adopted flag, right, rejected proposal - Images by Željko Heimer, 8 May 2004

The ceremonial flag of Krapina-Zagorje County (also used as table flag), provisioned in the aforementioned Decision on the County's symbols, is prescribed by Decision Odluka o izgledu svecane zastave Krapinsko-zagorske županije, adopted on 17 December 1999 by the County Assembly and published on 29 December 1999 in Službeni glasnik Krapinsko-zagorske županije, No. 17.

The ceremonial flag is a red (CMYK 20-100-100-5) gonfalon bordered yellow, with approximate proportions 1:2, with five sleave rectangles on top and a yellow fringe along the lower sides ending in point. In the middle of the flag is placed the coat of arms bordered yellow, above it an arched inscription bearing the County's name on three lines, below a yellow arched, triple wattle.

An early proposal had two yellow branches - a vine with grapes and a linden branch with its fruit - instead of the wattle. This proposal was rejected and such a flag was apparently never produced.

Željko Heimer, 9 September 2011

Former symbols of Krapina-Zagorje County

1993-1997

Flag of Krapina-Zagorje County, 1993-1997, vertical and horizontal versions - Images by Željko Heimer, 9 September 2011

The Croatian counties were formed in the beginning of 1993. The first set of symbols of Krapina-Zagorje County, based on the coat of arms of the County's capital, Krapina, is prescribed by Decision Odluka o opisu i uporabi grba i zastave Krapinsko-zagorske županije, adopted on 6 August 1993 by the County Assembly and published on 30 October 1993 in the County official gazette Službeni glasnik Županije Krapinsko-zagorske, No. 8.
Decision Odluka o izmjeni Odluke o opisu i uporabi grba i zastave Krapinsko-zagorske županije, adopted on 3 June 1994 by the County Assembly and published on 4 June 1994 in Službeni glasnik Županije Krapinsko-zagorske, No. 14, changes only one line of the 1993 Decision regarding who gives grants for the use of the symbols to third parts (the County Mayor in 1993, the County Assembly in 1994).

The process of adoption of the coat of arms and the flag was prescribed by Decision Odluka o pristupu izradi prijedloga i utvrđivanju svečane pjesme, grba i zastave Županije, adopted on 14 May 1993 by the County Assembly and published on 1 September 1993 in Službeni glasnik Županije Krapinsko-zagorske, No. 1. The Decision also includes a recommendation to all of the towns and municipalities in the County to start a similar process for the adoption of a coat of arms and a flag. The task to lead the project was assigned to the Vice-Mayor of the County, who had to propose a Commission and to coordinate the task with the towns and municipalities for their own process.

The flag is described in Article 9, as a vertical flag made of red silk with two square indentations in base, the size of which is 1/5 of the flag width. It is fringed with gold. The coat of arms is set in the lower half, touching the line that divides the flag in halves, the size of the coat of arms should be such that the blue ribbon almost touches the vertical edges. The horizontal flag, not prescribed, was reportedly in use with the coat of arms in the middle and without the indentations.

Coat of arms of Krapina-Zagorje County, 1993-1997 - Image by Željko Heimer, 9 September 2011

The coat of arms is described in Article 8 as follows:

The central part of the coat of arms represents the Old City [of Krapina] with towers in shape of the shield of the coat of arms of the Town of Krapina. The background of the towers is dark blue. Around the shield is a red mantle based on the old uniforms of Croatian soldiers, especially the Illyrians. The inner part of the mantle is sky blue, symbolizing the openness and honesty as well as the integrity of the inhabitants of the County. On the left and the right of the shield across the mantle are hanging on golden ribbons daisy flowers symbolizing the County and the mountain on whose slopes the County is settled for the most part. Atop the shield in the mantle is set the coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia. Behind the coat of arms above the mantle are stylized the low hills of Zagorje. Below the coat of arms is set a winding dark blue ribbon inscribed with "ŽUPANIJA KRAPINSKO ZAGORSKA".

The symbols were not approved by the central authorities (at the time, the Ministry of Administration), for several reasons (inclusion of the coat of arms of Croatia in the design, use of the mantle, use of the coat of arms of the town, ribbons...).

Željko Heimer, 9 September 2011

1997-1999

Flag and arms of Krapina-Zagorje County, 1997-1999 - Images by Željko Heimer, 9 September 2011

In 1997 the County made a minor adjustment to the symbols in hope to get the approval; however, this was not enough to cover all the flaws in the design.
Decision Odluka o izmjeni Odluke o opisu i uporabi grba i zastave Krapinsko-zagorske županije, adopted on 19 December 1997 by the County Assembly and published on 22 December 1997 in Službeni glasnik Županije Krapinsko-zagorske, No. 14, changes the coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia atop of the main shield into "the historic coat of arms of the Republic [sic] of Croatia from year 1495". The history of the Croatian coat of arms knows of two coats of arms (photos) preserved from that year or close to it: a rectangular 8 x 8 checky shield is preserved on the walls of the St. Lucia church in Jurandvor near Baška (important as the site of another stone carving showing the oldest preserved text in Glagolitic script) and is dated around 1495. However, this is probably not the one meant by the Krapina-Zagorje County legislators - the other coat of arms is the one preserved on the ceiling of the Stadtrichter Zeller Haus (Herzog Friedrichstr. 35) of the city magistrate (Stadtrichter) in Innsbruck, Austria, dating from 1495/96. This coat of arms consists of a 4 x 4 checky shield topped with a golden simple crown.
Nothing else was changed from the previous Decisions. However, the County was officially renamed in 1997 "Krapinsko-zagorska županija", so we may assume that the inscribed name was also changed. So far, I am not aware that these flags were actually ever made and I am also suspicious if the coat of arms was used to any extent, but they were prescribed so. The matching horizontal flag was not either prescribed or reported in use.

Željko Heimer, 12 January 2007