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

Gorjani (Municipality, Osijek-Baranja County, Croatia)

Flag of Gorjani - Image by Željko Heimer, 25 April 2010, after images kindly supplied by the municipal administration

Presentation of Gorjani
Flag of Gorjani
Coat of arms of Gorjani
Ceremonial flag of Gorjani
Former symbols of Gorjani

See also:

Presentation of Gorjani

Gorjani is located near the town of Đakovo. Population is about 1,800 inhabitants, in the two settlements of Gorjani and Tomašanci.
An interesting folklore custom is preserved in Gorjani, named ljelje : a procession of women in rich folk costumes holding sabres, a custom from the period of Turkish raids, when it is said that on one occasion the Turks captured all the man from the village, while the women dressed up in their richest costumes took weapons and liberated their husbands.

Željko Heimer, 19 October 2007

Flag of Gorjani

The symbols of Gorjani are prescribed by Decision Odluka o usvajanju grba, zastave i počasne zastave Općine Gorjani, adopted on 12 February 2004 by the Municipality Assembly and published in the Municipality official gazette Službeni Glasnik Općine Gorjani.
The use and protection of the symbols are prescribed by Decision Odluka o načinu i zaᅡtiti uporabe grba, zastave i počasne zastave Općine Gorjani, adopted on 12 February 2004 by the Municipality Assembly and published in Službeni Glasnik Općine Gorjani.

The symbols were designed by the Heraldic Art d.o.o. company, from Rijeka.

The flag is in proportions 1:2, light blue with the coat of arms, bordered yellow, in the middle.

Željko Heimer, 25 April 2010

Coat of arms of Gorjani

Coat of arms of Gorjani - Image by Željko Heimer, 25 April 2010, after images kindly supplied by the municipal administration

The coat of arms is described in the Decision as "in triangular heart-shaped shield, in the red field a golden-yellow snake crowned and eight times bent with the imperial apple [orb] in the mouth", that is "Gules a crowned serpent erect eating an orb all or".
I assume that Heraldic Art was called upon when the previous design did not pass the central authorities and that they redesigned it, keeping only the "interesting" part of the design, the eight times bent snake with the orb taken from the coat of arms of the Gorjanski family.

Željko Heimer, 25 April 2010

Ceremonial flag of Gorjani

Ceremonial flag of Gorjani - Image by Željko Heimer, 25 April 2010 (reconstruction, no original seen)

The ceremonial flag is, atypically, of different colour, being a beige gonfalon with the coat of arms in its centre, the name of the municipality aobve and an oak branch and a garb all golden yellow.

Željko Heimer, 25 April 2010

Former symbols of Gorjani

Former flag and arms of Gorjani - Images by Željko Heimer, 15 August 2009

The former symbols of Gorjani were adopted in the occasion of the celebration of the 750th anniversary of the first written mention of Gorjani, held on 17 December 1994. The symbols were designed by Pr. Dr. Ivan Balta, Professor of Auxiliary Historical Sciences at the Osijek University. The invitation card for the celebration blazons the coat of arms and explains its symbolic, and shows and explains the flag.
The coat of arms is "Per fess, in dexter argent a church sable issuant from a mount gules on which is running a marten of the second and in the chief also gules a mullet of the first and in sinister azure a crowned serpent erect sable eating an orb of the same". The eight times bent snake with the orb is taken from the coat of arms of the Gorjanski family, the mullet is for the Morning Star symbolizing renaissance and hope, and its rounded points reminds the Slavonian medieval coins. The church pictured is the old Church of the Three Holy Kings in Gorjani, with embattlements symbolizing the defence against the enemy, while the marten in the base designates Gorjani's affiliation to Slavonia.
The flag,designed and produced at the same time, is vertically divided into blue and white with red squares along the fly edge forming a triangle 1+2+3, and overall the coat of arms. Proportions are 3:5. The colours as said to symbolise: blue - unity and concordance, white - equality, red - freedom and patriotism.
This design was not approved by the Central State Office for Administration, but since the adoption of the new symbols for the municipality, the rejected symbols are used as the symbols of the village of Gorjani itself.

Željko Heimer & Ivan Pavić (Mayor of Gorjani, 1993-1997), 15 August 2009