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Stari Grad (Town, Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia)

Flag of Stari Grad, horizontal (officila) and vertical versions - Images by Željko Heimer, 27 August 2013

Presentation of Stari Grad
Flag of Stari Grad
Coat of arms of Stari Grad
Ceremonial flag of Stari Grad
Former symbols of Stari Grad (1997-2001)

See also:

Presentation of Stari Grad

The Town of Stari Grad (2,817 inhabitants in 2001, 1,906 in the town of Stari Grad) is located on the Hvar island, about 40 km south of Split.
Stari Grad should not be confused with Starigrad (Paklenica) in Zadar County and with an other Starigrad located near Koprivnica ; therefore, the town is often refered to as "Stari Grad na Hvaru".
Stari Grad was granted the status of town in 1997.

Željko Heimer, 4 August 2004

Flag of Stari Grad

The symbols of Stari Grad are prescribed by Decision Odluku o grbu i zastavi Grada Starog Grada, adopted on 14 March 2001 by the Town Assembly and published on 22 March 2001 in the Town official gazette Službeni glasnik Grada Starog Grada, No. 1. The Decision was amended by Decisions Odluka o stavljanju izvan snage Odluke o izmjenama Odluke o grbu i zastavi Grada Starog Grada, adopted on 12 December 2002 and published on 20 December 2002 in Službeni glasnik Grada Starog Grada, No. 8, and Odluka o izmjenama Odluke o grbu i zastavi Grada Starog Grada, adopted on 4 October 2004 and published on 11 October 2004 in Službeni glasnik Grada Starog Grada, No. 8.
The symbols are described in the Town Statutes Statut Grada Starog Grada, adopted on 11 October 2001 and published on 19 October 2001 in Službeni glasnik Grada Starog Grada, No. 7.

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

The flag is in proportions 1:2, blue with the coat of arms, bordered yellow, in the middle.
The vertical flag is also used (photo), although not prescribed in the Decision.

Željko Heimer & Tomislav Šipek, 27 August 2013

Coat of arms of Stari Grad

Coat of arms of Stari Grad - Image by Željko Heimer, 27 August 2013

The coat of arms is described in the Decision as "Azure, on a base vert silver city walls with three 3-storied embattled towers, the middle one being tallest, each with open doors".

Željko Heimer, 29 August 2009

Ceremonial flag of Stari Grad

Ceremonial flag of Stari Grad - Image by Željko Heimer, 27 August 2013

The ceremonial flag (photo, photo) is a red three-tailed gonfalon with the coat of arms in the middle, the name of the town inscribed above in two arches and three different plant ornaments in three tails at the bottom - olive, grapevine and fig.

Željko Heimer & Tomislav Šipek, 27 August 2013

Former symbols of Stari Grad, 1997-2001

Former flag and arms of Stari Grad - Images by Željko Heimer, 29 August 2009

The first modern coat of arms of Stari Grad was prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi općine Stari Grad, adopted on 19 May 1993 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 16 August 1993 in the Municipality official gazette Službeni glasnik Općine Stari Grad, No. 2.
The coat of arms is of oval shape, azure on a base vert the city walls without embattlements with three open doors, above the central an oval embattled tower with three (1-1-1) windows and a parapet and to its left and right each a shorter oval embattled tower with three (2-1) windows. The shield is set in an oval baroque cartouche. It is also noted that this coat of arms is stone-carved, set in the town hall.

The Decision was superseded (probably after the rejection of the coat of arms by the central authorities) by Decision Odluku o grbu i zastavi Grada Starog Grada, adopted on 30 October 1997 by the Town Assembly and published on 10 November 1997 in Službeni glasnik Grada Starog Grada, No. 4.
The text of the decision still describes the shield to be oval. The flag is described as white with the coat of arms in the middle bordered with a silver outline. The ceremonial flag is described only as being made of silver and with golden fringe, presumably of the same design as the official flag.

The blazon in the 1993 Decision must have been copied from Lazsowski [lsv39], who mentions that there are historical seals and coats of arms preserved that he used as sources.
Ströhl (Städte-Wappen von Ö-U, 1904) [stl04] gives under Cittàvecchia (Starigrad) its ancient coat of arms, "Gules, on a base vert embattled city walls with three towers"; this is, basically, the same as used today, with the red instead of blue. Ströhl notes that in 1879 a new coat of arms was granted, of a complex design: Quarterly, 1. A stone pine (umbrella pine, Pinus pinea), a grapevine in an wheat field with a goat, symbolic for the fertility of the region, 2. An antique sail ship, symbolic for the Greek colonization, 3. A large stone masoned wall on the bank of a bay, for the old Pharos, with an olive tree, myrtle and rosemary and 4. Symbolic for hope, a raising sun and, as Ströhl say "etc." actually showing a lion standing on a cliff and a swallow flying above. The book does not include the drawing of the ornaments around the shield, but describes them in the text: two surrounding green snakes carrying the motto "LABOREMVS" (Let us work). Ströhl also mentions the town's banner, probably a gonfalon, as blue with that coat of arms in the middle.

Željko Heimer, 29 August 2009