HaGalil HaElyon (Israel)

Regional Council of Hagalil HaElyon/Upper Galilee, Mo'atza Ezorit HaGalil HaElyon

Last modified: 2015-06-29 by andrew weeks
Keywords: hagalil haelyon | upper galilee | regional council | mo'atza ezorit hagalil haelyon | coat of arms (lion: white) | coat of arms (cogwheel: white) | coat of arms (landscape) | text: hebrew (white) |
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image by Dov Gutterman | 2:3 Coat-of-arms adopted 30th October 1958

• Description
• Sports Department Flag

See also:

• Municipal Flags (Israel)
• Zefat Subdistrict (Northern District, Israel)
• Israel

Description

Regional Council HaGalil HaElyon (meaning Upper Galilee) is situated in the north of Israel in area known as the Galilee finger (because of its geographical shape) near the border with Lebanon. It was established in 1950 and unites 29 settlements with 15,000 inh. Mr. Gideon Shelakh of the Regional Council wrote me that the council does not have an official flag. The council uses its logo on various backgrounds — red, green, yellow, blue and purple. I chose red for my image. Source: e-mail from Mr. Gideon Shelakh, Regional Council, 22 August 2001 and the municipal website.
Dov Gutterman, 28 August 2001

The municipal emblem was published in the official gazette (Rashumot), YP 631, 30 October 1958.
Dov Gutterman, 4 September 2001

The main element of the emblem is "The Roaring Lion" statute, by Avraham Melenkov (1924), which is situated above the grave of the eight Tel-Hai defenders who were killed in 1920. The statue is at Kefar-Gil'adi graveyard. See photo at
<www.tbh.co.il>.
Tel-Hai (today a national monument) was established in 1918. According to a Anglo-French agreement of 1919, the upper Galilee, including its four Jewish settlements, was under French control. On 1 March 1920 there was a battle between its defenders and Anti-French Arab rebels in which eight of its defenders were killed including their commander Yosef Trumpeldor. According to a myth, his last words were: "It is good to die for our land".
Trumpeldor became an heroic figure and you can find a site named after him in almost every Jewish town in Israel, as well some settlements and BETAR youth movement. The 11th day of Adar (as it was according to the Hebrew calendar) is an official national memorial day. The nearby town of Qiryat Shemona (Town of the Eight) is named after those defenders.
After the battle (5 October 1920) the Anglo-French agreement was amended and the Upper Galilee was moved to British control.
Today, the Regional Council govern 29 Kibbutz's. City hall at the south entrance to Qiryat Shemona.
Source: <www.galil-elion.org.il>.
Dov Gutterman, 15 April 2005

Sports Department Flag

image by Dov Gutterman | 2:3

At a basketball match today in Hapo'el Galil Elyon B.C's homecourt in Kibbutz Kefar Bluhm, there were white flags of the Regional Council with the inscription Mah'leket HaSport (Sport Department).
Dov Gutterman, 31 October 2001