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Hvar (Town, Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia)

Flag of Hvar - Image by Željko Heimer, 14 May 2014

Presentation of Hvar
Flag of Hvar
Coat of arms of Hvar
Table flag of Hvar

See also:

Presentation of Hvar

The Town of Hvar (4,138 inhabitants in 2001, 3,672 in the town of Hvar) is the main town on the island of the same name, located about 40 km due south of Split.
The place was settled in mists of time to become the Greek colony of Pharos in 385 BC. It was later ruled by Rome and Byzantium, then, since the 7th century, by Neretva rulers of Croatian origin and so on. In the medieval times it was one of the main centers of Croatian literacy as well as culture (for instance, the arsenals were made into a theatre once the military issues were no longer important).

Željko Heimer, 29 July 2006

Flag of Hvar

The symbols of Hvar are described in the Town Statutes Statut Grada Hvara, adopted on 5 November 2001 by the Town Assembly and published in the Town official gazette Službeni glasnik Grada Hvara.
The symbols were selected in a public contest prescribed by Decision Odluka o raspisivanju natječaja za idejno rješenje heraldičkog znakovlja Grada Hvara, adopted on 17 May 1993 and published on 16 August 1993 in Službeni glasnik Opčine Hvar, No. 2 (text).

The flag is in proportions 1:2, blue with the coat of arms, bordered white, in the middle.
The ceremonial flag is the same, made of silk and with a golden fringe.

When celebrating the feast of St. Stephen the Pope, municipal flags are hoisted from a number of windows on the town square (photo, photo). The practice of displaying municipal flags from private windows is not particularly common in Croatia, especially since those flags, usually not easily obtained, are usually protected by local regulations restricting their use to the municipal administration. I am not aware of such a local restriction in Hvar, though, and the municipality might encourage such an use for the celebration.

Željko Heimer, 14 May 2014

Coat of arms of Hvar

Coat of arms of Hvar - Image by Željko Heimer, 29 July 2006

The coat of arms is described in the Town Statutes as fllows:

Per fess azure St. Stephen the Pope sitting on a throne or and or on a base azure the Town of Hvar argent: embatteled walls edged with two towers each topped with a blue flag opened in the middle between a church and the arsenal and behind it a castle on a rock.

This is the historical coat of arms of the town. Laszowski [lsv39] already showed the same coat of arms, with minor differences: the man is represented as a king, with a fleur-de-lis sceptre, the Hungarian St. Stephen's crown, halo and orb, and the town is somewhat differently rendered. The flag on the fortresses are drawn and blazoned as tribars of blue-white-blue.

The coat of arms was originally prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu Grada Hvara, adopted on 16 December 1993 and published on 28 December 1993 in Službeni glasnik Opčine Hvar, No. 3 (text). The Decision describes the coat of arms basically of the same design as the current one, only outlined with a golden double wattle ornament. Regarding the flag, it is only mentioned that the coat of arms is allowed to be used on the flag.

Željko Heimer, 29 August 2009

Table flag of Hvar

Table flag of Hvar - Image by Željko Heimer, 30 December 2014

The table flag of Hvar (photo) is a vertical version, in proportions 3:5, of the town flag, with the coat of arms properly rotated, above a white inscription of the town name.

Željko Heimer & Marko Vitez, 30 December 2014