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Izola (Municipality, Slovenia)

Isola

Municipal flag of Izola, horizontal and vertical versions - Images by Željko Heimer, 29 June 2007

Presentation of Izola
Municipal flag of Izola
Coat of arms of Izola
Former flag of Izola

See also:

Presentation of Izola

Izola / Isola (14,488 inhabitants) is a bilingual municipality, with an Italian minority, located on the Slovenska Istra (Slovenian Istria), an area locally known as Obala (the Coast).

Željko Heimer & Goran Kalister, 26 June 2003

Municipal flag of Izola

The coat of arms and the flag of Izola are prescribed by the municipality statutes Statut Občine Izola, adopted on 15 June 1995 and published in the local official gazette Uradne objave občine Izola. The text of the Statutes claims that the coat of arms and flag drawings are integral part of it, but the drawings were not published in the online version (maybe they were only published in the printed versions).
The Decision on the use of the symbols Odlok o uporabi grba in zastave občine Izola was adopted in 14 September 1995 and published in the municipal gazette Uradno glasilo občine Izola, 11/1995. I was unable to find the full text but I believe that this Decision did not include colours and design details.
Stanič & Jakopič [j2s05] claim that the design was finally confirmed (whatever that means exactly) on 25 October 1999 in the revised statutes Statut Občine Izola, adopted on 25 October 1999 and published on 11 November 1999 in the local official gazette Uradne objave občine Izola 15/1999, quoting colour specifications.
It seems, however, that those details were rather published in Decision Statutarni sklep o določitvi priloge k statutu Občine Izola - grafična izvedba grba in zastave Občine Izola (Statutory Decision on the determination of the attachment to the Statutes of the Municipality of Isola - Graphical design of the coat of arms and the flag of the Municipality of Isola), adopted on 25 May 2000 and published on 15 June 2000 in the local official gazette Uradne objave občine Izola 13/2000.

The Decision prescribes the flag as blue, Pantone 2995u, in proportions 1:2, with the coat of arms height being 1/2 of the flag height (I believe that "flag height" here means the shorter flag edge, no matter the flag is horizontal or vertical version - in this regard Stanič & Jakopič's [j2s05] images are incorrect as they show a larger coat of arms, about 2/3 of the height), with vertical and horizontal variants explicitly prescribed.

Municipal flag of Izola, probably used in 1995-2000 - Image by Željko Heimer, 31 October 1999

It seems that prior the 2000 Decision the flag was used in lighter shades of blue.

Željko Heimer, 29 June 2007

Coat of arms of Izola

Coat of arms of Izola - Image by Željko Heimer, 29 June 2007

The coat of arms of Izola is prescribed to be in width to height ratio 1:1.2, all of its elements to be outlined with a black line being 1/100 of the coat of arms width wide, except the outmost outlining that should be even five times thinner. The white outline of the shield is also 1/100 of the width. Colours are given by Stanič & Jakopič [j2s05] as:
- Yellow: Pantone 129u
- Green: Pantone 347u
- Blue: Pantone 2995u
plus white and black.

The coat of arms of Izola is a blue shield with a yellow mount in base and a white dove flying carrying a green olive branch in its beak. The mount is said to symbolize an island. Izola was once an island, as this is the case for many old towns in the Adriatic Sea, but is now connected with the mainland.

Albert Pucer, archivist in the Museum of Koper quoted by Stanič & Jakopič [j2s05], explains the legend behind the coat of arms as follows. The town of Koper was invaded and looted by Genovese who determined their next prey as a small town located on the island of Izola. They believed it would be an easy prey, but at the moment they were getting near a dove flew out of the belfry of the church of Izola. The dove was shining so bright that the Genovese could not see the town anymore and had to sail back. Since then the town shows in its coat of arms a dove with an olive branch in its beak over the golden island.

Coat of arms of Izola, probably used in 1995-2000 - Image by Željko Heimer, 31 October 1999

It seems that prior the 2000 Decision the flag was used in lighter shades of blue.

Željko Heimer & Goran Kalister, 29 June 2007

Former flag of Izola

Former flag of Izola - Image by Željko Heimer, 31 October 1999

According to Banderas municipales de Eslovenia [drn96i], published in Banderas [ban] #58 (March 1996), the former flag of Izola, adopted on 19 June 1987, and presumably abandoned in 1995, differred from the present flag by the shape of the coat of arms, here being oval with a copper-coloured baroque border around it.

Željko Heimer, 31 October 1999