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Otočac (Town, Lika-Senj County, Croatia)

Flag of Otočac - Image by Željko Heimer, 30 July 2013

Presentation of Otočac
Flag of Otočac
Coat of arms of Otočac
Ceremonial flag of Otočac
Table flag of Otočac
Former symbols of Otočac

See also:

Presentation of Otočac

The Town of Otočac (10,411 inhabitants in 2001, 4,354 in the town of Otočac) is located in the center of the karstic region known as Gacka. It was mentioned already in the first texts written in Croatian language in the late 11th century. The town was given to the Order of the Temple in the 13th century, later on it was an hereditary ownership of the Frankopan, Dukes of Krk and, later, Dukes of Gacka. With the advent of the Turkish threat, the region becomes a border stronghold, and remains so for many years.

Željko Heimer, 23 November 2001

Flag of Otočac

The symbols of Otočac are prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Grada Otočca, adopted on 23 October 1995 by the Town Assembly and published in the Town's official gazette Službeni vjesnik Grada Otočca, No. 4.
The Decision was amended by Odluka o izmjeni Odluke o grbu i zastavi Grada Otočca, adopted on 31 January 1996 and published in Službeni vjesnik Grada Otočca, No. 1, regarding the penal prescriptions, by Odluka o izmjeni Odluke o grbu i zastavi Grada Otočca, adopted on 21 October 1998 and published in Službeni vjesnik Grada Otočca, No. 4. regarding the prescriptions on the display of the flag with the county and state flags, and by Odluka o izmjeni Odluke o grbu i zastavi Grada Otočca, adopted on 27 February 2001 and published in Službeni vjesnik Grada Otočca, No. 1.
The Decision was eventually consolidated as Odluka o grbu i zastavi Grada Otočca (pročišćeni tekst), adopted on 18 September 2001 and published in Službeni vjesnik Grada Otočca, No. 5.

The symbols were approved by the Ministry of Administration on 3 January 1996.

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

The flag is described in Article 11, as follows:

The Town has a flag in ratio of width to height of one to two.
The flag of the Town of Otočac is red. In the centre of the flag is set the coat of arms of the Town, bordered in yellow. The height of the coat of arms is one half of the flag's width.

Željko Heimer, 20 March 2014

Coat of arms of Otočac

Coat of arms of Otočac - Image by Željko Heimer, 30 July 2013

The coat of arms is described in Article 7, as follows:

The coat of arms of the Town of Otočac is in a shield shape, with the bottom slightly pointed.
The coat of arms is of the silver colour, including an upright red lion with a golden crown on its head turned to the right. Above the lion there are in a line three red crescents pointing upwards.

As reported by by Enver Ljubović [lju01], the coat of arms uses elements from the 1430 family arms of the Frankopan Dukes ("Argent two lions rampant gules crowned or holding together loafs of bread") - the Frankopan are much better known elsewhere by their 1330 coat of arms "Per fess gules and or, in chief a mullet of the last" - and crescents from the arms of other ancient rulers of Gacka, the Vilić family ("Or an eagle crowned displayed sable overall on a bar argent three crescents gules", from the Korjenić-Neorić Armorial, 1595).

Željko Heimer, 20 March 2014

Ceremonial flag of Otočac

Ceremonial flag of Otočac, left, current design, right, previous design - Images by Željko Heimer, 23 October 2013

The ceremonial flag (photo, photo, photo), not prescribed in the Decision, is red, in the middle the coat of arms surmounted by "GRAD /OTOČAC" and two golden yellow branches of oak and larch.
The previously used version of the flag was inscribed with "OTOČAC / u Gackoj" (in Gacka).

Željko Heimer, 23 October 2013

Table flag of Otočac

Table flag of Otočac - Image by Željko Heimer, 23 October 2013

The table flag (photo) is a rectangular version of the ceremonial flag, framed with a golden border.

Željko Heimer, 23 October 2013

Former symbols of Otočac

Former flag and coat of arms of Otočac - Images by Željko Heimer, 20 March 2014 (reconstruction, no original seen)

The first symbols of Otočac were prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Grada Otočca, adopted on 17 June 1994 by the Town Assembly and published on 21 June 1994 in the Town's official gazette Službeni vjesnik Grada Otočca, No. 4. The Decision was amended as Odluka o grbu i zastavi Grada Otočca, adopted on 22 February 1995 and published in Službeni vjesnik Grada Otočca, No. 1.
As they did not comply with the central authorities' regulations, the symbols were soon replaced by those currently in use.

The flag is described in Article 10, as follows:

The Town has a flag with a ratio of width to length of 1:2.
The flag of the Town of Otočac is composed of two colours: white and red. The colours are arranged horizontally in this order from the top: white and red. Each colour covers one half of the flag. The coat of arms of the Town is set in the centre of the flag. The central point of the coat of arms matches the crossing point of the diagonals. The coat of arms of the Town enters the white and the red fields to one half of their width.

The coat of arms is described in Article 7, as follows:

The coat of arms of the Town of Otočac is in a shield shape, slightly pointed at the bottom. The ratio of width to height is 1:1.3.
The coat of arms of the Town is divided into three fields meeting in its centre. In the centre of the coat of arms is a silver fort with round towers with a pointed black roof, the central tower being the largest. The fort stands on the top of a green hill, under which a wavy blue river flows. In the bottom of the coat of arms under the river is a green area.
The top right field is silver with an upright red lion with silver shades of its fur, looking to the left. Above the lion's head is a golden crown.
The top left field is part of the old Croatian coat of arms regularly divided into twelve red and silver quarters arranged in three rows, the first one being red. The basic drawing of the coat of arms is black. The coat of arms is bordered with a golden edge.

A companion document explains that the fort represents Fortica, a fort built in 1819 on an island (Croatian, otok, hence the deminutive form "Otočac"). Devastated in the 20th century, the fort is known from numerous drawings (image, image).
The symbols are credited to the engineer Tomica Marić, designer at the INO furniture factory in Otočac.

Željko Heimer, 20 March 2014