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Senj (Lika-Senj County, Croatia)

Grad Senj

Last modified: 2007-08-25 by dov gutterman
Keywords: lika | senj | croatia | licko-senjska | st. george | dragon | fort nehaj | falcon | croatian falcon | sokol | star: 8 | segna |
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image by Željko Heimer



See also:

Other Sites:

  • Collection of Croatian Local Flags at FAME

City Flag

The coat of arms pictures the saint patron of the city, St. George killing the dragon. In background there is a silhuete of the Fort Nehaj, made in such way as to associate to the Croatian coat of arms. The coat of arms is encirceled in an ornament including floral and naval elements. The flag is a tricolour of colours derived from the coat of arms, according to the Centraleuropean tradition. Both coat of arms and the flag are aparently against the general rules set by the Ministry of Administration regarding the local symbols, but it may be that since those were adopted quite early (1993?) that they were allowed to stay. In any case, the legal status f those sybols in uncertain, but they are used nevertheless. Adopted: before 1995 (?).
Source: Tourist leaflet, Tourist Board of the City of Senj, undated (around 1996). Commemorative coin 5 kuna 1995, 500 years of the printing house in Senj. HRT, 1997
Željko Heimer

The source showing the Coat of Arms (but not the flag as far as I have noted): is the website of Grad Senj <http://www.senj.hr>.
Željko Heimer, 6 September 2003


Coat of Arms


image by Željko Heimer


XIVth Century Flag


image by Ivan Sarajcic, 2 May 2000

One of the oldest historical source for flag examination is map. In monography of Historical Institute in Belgrade "Monumenta Cartographica Jugoslaviae II" Narodna knjiga, Belgrade 1979. author Gordana Tomovic compares different XVIth century naval maps of Balkan peninsula. She notices flags above some place names on map preserved in 'Bibliotheque National in Paris (Departement des cartes et plans)' made on pergament by Angelino Dulcert (1339a.d.):
"The flag above Senj (Segna) is verticaly divided, left field is red with 8-pointed star, and right field is light yellow (pic.11- Flag above town of Senj (Segna) - [in today's Croatia yellow star is my guess]). Similiar heraldic elements could be seen on coats of arms of dukes Frankopan from Senj and Krk, who ruled Senj from 1271 until 1469...."
Ivan Sarajcic, 2 May 2000

Reading the [isa01], in the statute of the city of Senj from 14th century it was prescribed that a ship that enters the port without a flag shall be financially fined.
Željko Heimer, 17 July 2002


image by Tomislav Todorovic, 4 October 2006

The flag of Senj from the Catalan Atlas differs from the one from the map of Angelino Dulcert in replacing the star with a disc and yellow colour with gold. The shape is a square which extends into a short, wide tongue with concave top and bottom edges. The disc might have been the result either of the cartographer's inability to draw a very small star, or of his insufficient knowledge of the descriptions from "Libro del conoscimiento de los reinos", as the flag of Senj is described there as being charged with the eight-pointed star; it is impossible to decide absolutely certainly nowadays, because the map contains many flags which are drawn according to the text, as well as those which considerably differ from their descriptions.
Tomislav Todorovic, 4 October 2006

Obviously, this is an error in copying and the charge in the red field should be a golden star (mullet). It is the Coat of Arms of the most influencial family in Croatian northern Adriatic coast of the period, the dukes of Krk-Frankapan. The mullet from their Coat of Arms is included in the number of local Coat of Arms in Croatia in the rememberance of their lordship. Obviously, Senj was at the time ruled by the family as well.
Željko Heimer, 14 October 2006


image by Tomislav Todorovic, 27 July 2007

On the map of Guillelmus Soleri, which was created on Majorca c. 1385, and nowadays is kept in National Library of France, Paris, the flag of Senj has a very oblong form, with the gold field much larger than the red one, and the star is white. This colour combination is actually the one which was described and depicted in "Libro del conoscimiento de los reinos".   Sources:
- Wigal, Donald: Historic maritime maps used for historic exploration 1290-1699 Parkstone Press, New York, USA, 2000 ISBN 1-85995-750-1.  
- Libro del Conoscimiento. Viajes medievales, vol. I Madrid: Fundacio'n Jose' Antonio de Castro, 2005 ISBN 84-96452-11-5 (complete edition) ISBN 84-96452-12-3 (vol. I).
Tomislav Todorovic, 27 July 2007


Historical Flag of the Croatian Falcon from Senj


images from Croatian History Museum site by courtesy of Jelena Borosak Marijanovic

Flag of the Croatian Falcon from Senj - early 20th century
Double silk rep, multicoloured relief silk embroidery and gold embroidery,
gilt metal strands, wood, metal alloy, tin
138 x 138 cm
From Croatian History Museum site by courtesy of Jelena Borosak Marijanovic.
Bigger images at <jagor.srce.hr/hpm/m013500v.jpg> and <m013501v.jpg>.

A square Croatian tricolour edged with golden-yellow fringe and tassels on the ends. Obverse: the monograph of the Falcon Society is embroidered in Croatian colours in the centre of the field. A border with a floral motif runs along the edge of the field. Reverse: in the centre of the white field the inscription in gold embroidery reads: HRVATSKI SOKOL / U SENJU. An ornamental border is embroidered along the edge. The staff has a finial in the shape of a falcon with spread wings. The flag is fixed to the staff with gilt studs with the names of sponsors and the names of societies.
J. Borosak-Marijanovic, Zastave kroz stoljeca, Zagreb, 1996, catalogue number 119, page 153.

The Falcon (Sokol) society is a (kind of) sporting society of a great importance in Croatian history as it promoted national identity and feeling, together with a sporting spirit. There were such societies in almost all Croatian cities from (IIRC) end of 19th century, and many of those flags are preserved. Many of those flags followed similar pattern to this one, though there were others too.
Željko Heimer, 29 September 1999