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Kočevje (Municipality, Slovenia)

Municipal flag of Kočevje, horizontal and vertical versions - Images by Željko Heimer, 12 February 2006

Presentation of Kočevje
Municipal flag of Kočevje
Coat of arms of Kočevje
Former flags of Kočevje

See also:

Presentation of Kočevje

Kočevje (16,731 inhabitants) is an old town in middle Slovenia, which is called in older sources by its German name Gottschee. The municipality was formed before the 1990s.

Željko Heimer, 14 August 2002

Municipal flag of Kočevje

The flag and arms of Kočevje are prescribed by Decision Odlok o grbu in zastavi Občine Kočevje, adopted on 28 June 1999, and published in the official Slovene gazette Uradni list Republike Slovenije, 58/1999.

The decision says:

The flag is vertically divided blue-white-blue with the coat of arms in the middle white stripe.

There is no hint in the decision that the flag is vertical, with the stripes placed lengthwise. However, the municipal website shows drawing and photos of the flag hoisted in the Mayor's office and around the streets.
The "semi-official" guidelines for the blue shade are R:32, G:164, B:201 (light blue, nearest browser-safe values, R:51, G: 153, B: 204).

Stanič & Jakopič [j2s05] show both a vertical and a horizontal flag for Kočevje.

Željko Heimer, 12 February 2006

Coat of arms of Kočevje

Coat of arms of Kočevje - Image by Željko Heimer, 12 February 2006

The coat of arms of Kočevje was granted, along with civic rights, by Emperor Frederic III on 19 April 1471. The original grant burned up in 1596, and a new one was issued by Emperor Ferdinand III on 27 June 1642, with the same arms, today preserved in the local museum. It pictures in a blue shield the town at the time it received the civic rights, with a white fortification and the town's patron saint St. Jerom (Jernej) holding a book and a knife behind the wicked fence.
The municipal website also shows the coat of arms used on the car license plates using a darker blue shade and a sligtly different shield shape, as well as several historical variants, including the original 1471 design.

Željko Heimer, 28 August 2004

Former flags of Kočevje

1991(?)-1999

Flag of Kočevje, 1991 (?)-1999 - Image by Željko Heimer, 9 November 1999

According to Banderas municipales de Eslovenia [drn96i], published in Banderas [ban] #58 (March 1996), no flag was officially adopted before 1999 but there was already a flag in unofficial use.
This flag is horizontally divided white-blue, in proportions 1:2, with the coat of arms in the middle. The coat of arms is in the licence plate shape, blue with a brown palisade, on which are a saint clead red and haloed yellow, and a white tower and church to his left.

Flag and emblem of Kočevje, 1980(?)-1991(?) - Images reconstructed by Željko Heimer, 26 August 2004

The flag reported by Banderas might rather have been charged with the official emblem of the community used in the 1980s. The flag could have not been used before 1991 when the car registration plates with the coats of arms were introduced. However, I have no further evidence regarding that flag, so it is just a reconstruction.

Željko Heimer, 28 August 2004