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Žalec (Municipality, Slovenia)

Municipal flag of Žalec - Image by Željko Heimer, 21 October 2002

Presentation of Žalec
Municipal flag of Žalec
Coat of arms of Žalec
Former coat of arms of Žalec
Local community of Levec
Local community of Šempeter v Savinjski dolini

See also:

Presentation of Žalec

Žalec had the community status before the 1990s.

Željko Heimer, 11 April 2000

Municipal flag of Žalec

The flag and arms of Žalec are prescribed in the successive Municipal Statutes Statutarni sklep Občine Žalec, adopted on 17 February 1995 and published in the official Slovene gazette Uradni list Republike Slovenije, 12/1995; Statut Občine Žalec, adopted on 15 April 1999 and published in the official Slovene gazette Uradni list Republike Slovenije, 37/1999; and Spremembe in dopolnitve statuta Občine Žalec, adopted on 30 March 2000, and published in the official Slovene gazette Uradni list Republike Slovenije 43/00.

In 1999, the flag was prescribed to have the coat of arms in the upper right corner, but this was already changed to the current design in 2000, and probably no such flag was ever made. The current flag is vertical, in proportions 2:1, green with the coat of arms in the upper third of the flag with the blue stripe parallel to the flag upper edge.

Željko Heimer, 21 October 2002

Coat of arms of Žalec

Coat of arms of Žalec - Image by Željko Heimer, 21 October 2002

The coat of arms of Žalec is a golden stylized hop fruit with a leaf in a green shield with a blue chief fimbriated yellow. This emblem has been already used long before it was finally adopted as the coat of arms (in seals) and superseded the historical coat of arms of the town of Žalec, then in use by the municipality.

Željko Heimer, 21 October 2002

Former coat of arms of Žalec

Former coat of arms of Žalec - Image by Željko Heimer, 21 October 2002

Before 1999 the municipality of Žalec used the traditional coat of arms of the town of Žalec, "Gules a pair of wings sable in chief a rose argent barbed and seeded proper and in base a fleur-de-lis argent", as its own.
This, together with a matching flag of which details are unknown, were confirmed in the aforementioned 1995 Statutes. This coat of arms is now used by the Administrative Unit of Žalec (an administrative subdivision including several muncipalities and having functions of state administration for instance, police, courts etc.) and therefore found on the car licence plates.
Stanič & Jakopič [j2s05] explain that this coat of arms is canting. In German heralrdry, Sachen or Saxen are the name of eagle wing bones and threfore the wings stand for Sachen. The rose and fleur-de-lis are canting for Feld or Veld ("field"), so we get "Sachenfeld", the German name of the town. This coat of arms has been known at least since the XIVth century.

Željko Heimer, 25 June 2006

Local community of Levec

A public contest for the design of the flag and arms of Levec has been launched (community website). The deadline for proposal's submission was 10 August 2011. The selected designs will be unveiled during the next Community Festival.

Ivan Sache, 30 August 2011

Local community of Šempeter v Savinjski dolini

Flag and arms of the local community (Krajevna skupnost) of Šempeter - Image by Željko Heimer, 15 September 2005

The flag of Šempeter, as shown on the municipal website, is green with a yellow triangle stretching over the whole flag and the community coat of arms (with a plain green shield) placed near the hoist.

According to the municipal website, the monument shown on the coat of arms is a tomb, part of a well-preserved Roman necropolis discovered in 1952 on the route of the former Roman way leading Aquilea - Emona (Ljubljana) - Celeia (Celje) - Petovio (Ptuj).
The tombs were covered by sand floated by the Sava river in the 3rd century. The tombs are mostly of the high dignitaries from Celje who maintained the fields in the region. The largest tomb is the one shown on the coat of arms, of the family of a Celje Mayor where a son and a mother were buried with their sculptures showing also the four seasons and scenes from the story of Iphigenia in Taurida.
The municipal website gives also a short description of the tomb in English. Curiously, it appears that the image of the tomb on the flag is mirrored.

Željko Heimer, Valentin Poposki & Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 18 September 2005