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Hrvatska Kostajnica (Town, Sisak-Moslavina County, Croatia)

Flag of Hrvatska Kostajnica, as used (left) and as prescribed (right) - Images by Željko Heimer, 19 December 2009

Presentation of Hrvatska Kostajnica
Flag of Hrvatska Kostajnica
Coat of arms of Hrvatska Kostajnica

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Presentation of Hrvatska Kostajnica

The Town of Hrvatska Kostajnica (2,746 inhabitants according to the 2001 census, 1,993 in the settlement of Hrvatska Kostajnica proper) is located on river Una, here the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, facing Bosanska Kostajnica. In the administrative reform of 1993 Kostajnica got the Municipality status, which was reverted to Town status in 1997.
The name Kostajnica has root in a word meaning "chestnut"; a Chestnut Festival is held every year in autumn there that includes gathering of chestnuts in the woods surrounding the town.

Željko Heimer, 14 December 2002

Flag of Hrvatska Kostajnica

The symbols of Hrvatska Kostajnica are prescribed by three successive Decisions of the same name, Odluka o grbu i zastavi Grada Hrvatska Kostajnica, published in the Town official gazettes Službeni vjesnik Grada Hrvatska Kostajnica, No. 15 (1997), No. 3 (1999), and No. 2 (2012) (text), respectively. The most recent Decision is a rather technical update.
The current Town Statutes Statut Grada Hrvatska Kostajnica, adopted on 4 August 2009 by the Town Assembly and published on 6 August 2009 in Službeni vjesnik Grada Hrvatska Kostajnica, No. 27, contain the complete description of the coat of arms and the flag.

The flag is described as blue, in size 90 x 180 cm, with the coat of arms, sized 40 x 30 cm, in it, prescribed to be made in golden embroidery. The proportions of the coat of arms do not match what has been seen in use, and no golden embroidered flag has been seen yet.

The flag in the Mayor's office (photo, no longer online) appears to be the usual printed flag with the coat of arms larger than prescribed. This flag usage is confirmed by several sightings on TV reports from Kostajnica.

Željko Heimer, 22 May 2012

Coat of arms of Hrvatska Kostajnica

Coat of arms of Hrvatska Kostajnica - Image by Željko Heimer, 19 December 2009

The coat of arms of Hrvatska Kostajnica (municipal website) shows a three-towered fortification with a wall in base forming a golden yard in which is standing a Paschal lamb carrying a flag. The three-towered fortification represents the fort of Kostajnica, situated on an island in river Una.
The design in use, as prescribed in the aforementioned Decision and the 2009 Statutes, is similar to the arms shown in Laszowski's Grbovi Jugoslavije (1932).

The arms are described in the Ministry approval, granted on 20 February 1996, as follows:

The coat of arms is divided by a silver/white fess. In the top blue field a white town with three towers; in the golden bottom field a white town wall with opened doors over which is standing a white displayed falcon.

Historical coat of arms of Hrvatska Kostajnica (reconstruction) - Image by Željko Heimer, 6 March 2015

This appears to be a rather long standing confusion with the true symbols of Kostajnica. Ströh's Städte-Wappen von Österreich-Ungarn (1904) [stl04], the arms are not shown on the colour plates, but as a black and white drawing (p. 97). The arms not described properly, but rather freely, as follows:

Kostajnica, situated on river Una, with its old castle, has in the arms the depiction of it position at the Bosnian border clearly expressed. At the top edge of the shield a Paschal lamb.

The drawing shows a castle as shown by Laszowski, but with walls extending to the edges of the shield, in a blue field, placed in front of a green mountain. There is an arrow in the fess argent, while the bottom field is red, with the town walls not issuant from the base, but having a green field beneath them. What appears to be a Habsburg double-headed eagle with imperial crown above its heads stands on the gates. Laszowski notes that the town seal, known from the 18th century, was "considerably amended" in 1883.

Kostajnica was granted new Statutes in 1883, reprinted by the town in 1997 (Statut za grad Kostajnicu ob uredjenju gradske uprave, u Zagrebu tiskom Dioničke tiskare 1883., pretisak Gradsko poglavarstvu Grada Hrvatska Kostajnica, Hrvatska Kostajnica). Article 2 states, in a rather archaic language:

.. and the town of Kostajnica shall use, as until today, at its official seal that same coat of arms, which it has used based on a privilege henceforth namely that one depicting: In a valley of a hilly field with ivy and laurel wreathed trenches of a closed town, above the facade of the fortress a lamb of peace is jumping, ornamented with a victorious Paschal banner, while over the white houses of the town is proudly flapping the noble bird "Falcon".

Željko Heimer, 6 March 2015