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Križevci (Town, Koprivnica-Križevci County, Croatia)

Flag of Križevci - Image by Željko Heimer, 26 February 2014

Presentation of Križevci
Flag of Križevci
Coat of arms of Križevci
Former symbols of Križevci

See also:

Presentation of Križevci

The Town of Križevci (21,155 inhabitants in 2011, 11,219 in the town of Križevci) was established in the early Middle Ages; in 1225 it became the seat of a County and in 1245 it was granted Free Royal Town rights by Ban Stjepan, which was confirmed by King Bela IV in 1253. At the time the sessions of the State Parliament were held in Križevci. The town was developed as dual, the aforementioned part became the upper town (Gornji Križevac), while the lower town (Donji Križevac) was granted civic rights in 1405, when it was fortified against the Turks. The two competing towns were finally united in 1752 by Empress Maria Theresa, therefore the plural form of the name Križevci ("Crosses"; Latin, Crisium; German, Kreutz; Magyar, Kórös).
Križevci is the seat of the Greek Catholic Bishopric of Croatia.

Željko Heimer, 20 February 2002

Flag of Križevci

The symbols of Križevci are prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Grada Križevaca, adopted on 20 November 1997 by the Town Assembly and published in the Town official gazette Službeni vjesnik grada Križevaca, No.7. The Decision was amended by Odluka o izmjenama i dopuni Odluke o grbu i zastavi Grada Križevaca, adopted on16 November 2009 and published on 20 November 2009 in Službeni vjesnik grada Križevaca, No.7 (text).
The symbols were approved on 20 February 1997 by the Ministry of Administration, as reported by D. Ernečić [erc03].

The flag is in proportions 1:2, grayish blue with the coat of arms, bordered white, offset to the hoist.
Grayish blue is considered the traditional color of the town.

Željko Heimer, 26 February 2014

Coat of arms of Križevci

Coat of arms of Križevci - Image by Željko Heimer, 26 February 2016

The coat of arms is "Azure, two hands proper clasping each other embowed, dexter armoured argent and sinister clad or, holding a triple cross patty of the second between in chief two mullets of the third".
In 1752, the united town was granted a coat of arms with a triple cross, canting for the town name, with two arms holding it and a crown above the shield. One is armoured to represent the former upper town that was under military government and the other is in civilian cloth for the mercantile, lower town. The symbol of the upper town was a simple cross, while the symbol of the lower town was a double cross (Glas Podravine, 22 March 1996).
Subsequently, the coat of arms was used in different artistical renditions, differing mainly in the outer ornaments (for instance, in the 1970s, with the cartouche and crown and a ribbon inscribed with the town name in base; Varaždinske vijesti, 13 March 1971). The current simple shield, designed by Zdenko Balog, a local heraldist, was adopted in 1997, together with the flag.
The Town Assembly insisted on having a crown over the shield, even if the state regulations explicitly prohibit it (Glas Podravine, 12 April 1996).

On 1 October 2002, the Town Assembly adopted a Decision to change the coat of arms and the flag (local news). The intention was to revert to the historical design of the coat of arms and flag, accordingly. This was in the mid 1990s rejected by the central authorities, but the town authorities beleive that they shall have more luck this time.

Željko Heimer, 7 November 2013

Former symbols of Križevci

Flag of Križevci - Image by Željko Heimer, 26 February 2014

A Decision adopted in 1994 prescribed the flag (photo, Glas Podravine, 3 May 1996; coat of arms without the prescribed crown).

as of three colours: blue and silver divided along the centre with a thin white stripe. The full coat of arms, crown included, was set in the centre of the flag, oriented for vertical display.
The coat of arms was bascially the same as the current one, but in a somewhat different artistic redention. The shield is rectangular, outlined with silver, with the silver triple cross, a silver armoured arm and a golden civil arm, and of course, the golden mullets. The shield is surmounted by a golden crown.

Željko Heimer, 26 February 2014