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Banja Luka (Town, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

БаЊа Лука

Flag of Banja Luka, four official variants - Images by Željko Heimer, 21 January 2013

Flag of Banja Luka
- Unofficial variants
Coat of arms of Banja Luka
- Previous coat of arms of Banja Luka

See also:

Flag of Banja Luka

The symbols of Banja Luka are prescribed in Article 6 of the Town Status Statut Grada Banja Luka, adopted on 30 November 2005 by the Town Council and published on 12 December 2005 in the Town official gazette Službeni glasnik Grada Banja Luka, No. 25 (text), although they were adopted earlier.
The rules of use of the symbols are prescribed by Decision Odluka o upotrebi simbola i imena Grada Banja Luka, adopted on 31 July 2008 and published on 5 Auguts 2008 in Službeni glasnik Grada Banja Luka, No. 24 (text). The Decision was amended by Odluka o izmjenama i dopunama Odluke o upotrebi simbola i imena Grada Banjaluka, adopted on 28 December 2010 and published the same day in Službeni glasnik Grada Banja Luka, No. 30 (text).

THe flag is described in the Statutes as follows:

The flag of the Town of Banja Luka is blue, rectangular in shape, with the ratio of sides two to one, with the Town coat of arms in the middle of the flag and the text beneath the arms: "Town of Banja Luka".

Željko Heimer, 21 January 2013

Unofficial variants

Flag of Banja Luka, unofficial variant - Image by Željko Heimer, 21 January 2013

The flag appears to have come in at least four versions:
1. as described above, with coloured arms (official);
2. as described above, with coloured arms but without the text (photo, photo);
3. monochrome, with white arms and without the text (photo);
4. monochrome vertical, with white arms and bilingual text, Serbian over English (photo);
5. white vertical, with coloured arms (photo).

The Book of Graphical Standards (Knjiga grafičkih standarda Grada Banja Luka, published in August 2011 by the Municipal admnistration (website), covers the various uses of the coat of arms (in colours, black and white, negative etc.) and its use together with inscriptions. From what is available on the website, the flag appears to be covered only marginally: it is shown only in vertical display, either with the full-coloured or the white-only versions of the arms. The text regarding the flag makes it clear that the Cyrillic and the Latin versions of the town's name inscribed beneath the coat of arms are equally valid. However, versions with inscriptions in Cyrillic and English have been reported in use, as well as some other with text (including also website URL). It is not clear if all these additional variations are indeed prescribed in the Book, but it is quite certain, from the Statutes and other descriptions, that the inscription should be under the coat of arms as a rule. We know that versions without inscription are in use as well. It may be that all these numerous variations are remnant from the "pre-standard" period and that they may eventually be replaced with prescribed only versions.

Aleksandar Nemet, Eugene Ipavec & Željko Heimer, 21 January 2013

Coat of arms of Banja Luka

Coat of arms of Banja Luka - Image by Željko Heimer, 21 January 2013

THe coat of arms is described in the Statutes as follows:

The coat of arms of the town consists of a blue field, in the shape of a shield, bordered by a gold band, with a view of the Ban's Palace in the upper part, as well as a chestnut leaf (symbol of Banja Luka aleja[?]), the castle (castrum), an ancient Roman fortress, and at the bottom of the shield, the stylized line of river Vrbas. The central part of the coat of arms symbolizes the foundations [floorplan] of the Sabor [meeting] church, white-colored, and in the middle of the foundations a cross, with the ocila, red-colored.

Aleksandar Nemet, Eugene Ipavec & Željko Heimer, 21 January 2013

The coat of arms of Banja Luka was declared illegal by the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska (Nezavisne novine, 20 February 2013).

Amer Sulejmanagić, 21 February 2013

Previous coat of arms of Banja Luka

Former coat of arms of Banja Luka - Image by Željko Heimer, 21 January 2013

The pre-war coat of arms exists in green (image, image) and red (image) versions.
This design is the origin of the new coat of arms, made more Serbian.

Aleksandar Nemet & Željko Heimer, 17 June 2009