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Škofja Loka (Municipality, Slovenia)

Municipal flag of Škofja Loka - Image by Željko Heimer, 11 September 2005

Municipal flag of Škofja Loka
Coat of arms of Škofja Loka
Former flag of Škofja Loka

See also:

Municipal flag of Škofja Loka

The coat of arms and flag of Škofja Loka (22,040 inhabitants) are prescribed by Decision Odlok o grbu, zastavi, prazniku in pecatu Občine Škofja Loka, adopted on 10 April 1997, and published in the official Slovene gazette Uradni list Republike Slovenije, 23/1997.

The symbols are shown on the municipal website.
The flag is rectangular, in proportions 1:2, horizontally divided yellow-green. Yellow and green are the traditional colours of Škofja Loka, but why and when they came into use is not clear yet.
The Decision does not state explicitely the proportions of the flag; whereas the municipal website shows the flag with proportions 1:2, Peter Hawlina, authors of several books on the heraldry of Škofja Loka, previously stated that the proportions of the flag was 2:5. Both versions are probably correct.

Željko Heimer, 11 September 2005

Coat of arms of Škofja Loka

Coat of arms of Škofja Loka - Image by Željko Heimer, 11 September 2005

The coat of arms of Škofja Loka is "Vert on a base sable a gate or in entrance a Moor's head sable crowned gules".
The Moor's head is common element in the arms and seals of various town that were under the rule of the diocese of Freising (Bavaria, Germany) throughout Central Europe. The use of the head within the gates in the seal of Škofja Loka is confirmed at least from 1471 (but Stanič & Jakopič [j2s05] show the oldest municipal seal as from the XIVth century!).

Željko Heimer, 11 June 2006

Former flag of Škofja Loka

Flag of Škofja Loka, 1991-1997 - Image by Željko Heimer, 17 September 2004

A modernized version of the seal of 1471 was adopted as the coat of arms of Škofja Loka in 1962, and the yellow and green diagonally divided flag with a simplified coat of arms in the middle was confirmed on 17 September 1965. In 1991 the shape of the coat of arms was changed and a vine ornament was added around the castle.

Sources:

Banderas municipales de Eslovenia [drn96i], published in Banderas [ban] #58 (March 1996), quoting Uradni List SRS 011/1/62-2
Peter Hawlina: Kranjska in zamorc s krono, Drevesa
Slovensko rodoslovno drustvo, 18-27, 1998

Flag of Škofja Loka, 1965-1991, horizontal and vertical versions - Images by Željko Heimer, 17 September 2004

Zalokar's book [zal90] still shows the coat of arms adopted in 1962, which looks more like a seal.

Coat of arms of Škofja Loka, 1962-1997 - Image by Željko Heimer, 17 September 2004

This coat of arms must have been legally retained until the adoption of the current symbols in 1997.

Željko Heimer, 17 September 2004