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Tolmin (Municipality, Slovenia)

Flag of Tolmin - Image by Željko Heimer, 12 November 2012

Presentation of Tolmin
Flag of Tolmin
Coat of arms of Tolmin
Earlier renditions of the symbols of Tolmin
- 1996
- 1974

See also:

Presentation of Tolmin

Tolmin (12,405 inhabitants) had the municipality status before the 1990s. Among the natural features in the municipality is Tolminska korita, also called Dantejeva jama (Dante's Pit), which is deemed to have been the inspiration for the description of the hell by the famous poet.

Željko Heimer, 13 June 2006

Municipal flag of Tolmin

The symbols of Tolmin are described in the Municipal Statutes Statut Občine Tolmin, adopted on 28 January 1982, although the symbols were adopted earlier. The description is repeated in the subsequent versions of the Statutes, Statut Občine Tolmin, published in 1995 in the official gazette Uradno glasilo obćine Tolmin, No. 8, Statut Občine Tolmin (text), adopted on 10 March 1999 and published the same day in Uradno glasilo obćine Tolmin, No. 2, and Statut Občine Tolmin, adopted on 5 February 2009 and published on 17 February 2009 in the official Slovene gazette Uradni list Republike Slovenije, No. 13 (text).
The symbols are also prescribed by Decision Odlok o grbu in zastavi Občine Tolmin (text), adopted on 19 November 1996 and published the same day in Uradno glasilo obćine Tolmin, No. 19.

The flag is described in Article 7 of the Statutes as in proportions 1:2, green-blue with the municipal coat of arms in the top left corner. The green-blue field represents river Soča.
The Decision includes a graphical attachment providing the "Geometric and visual rules for the design of the flag and the coat of arms". The text of the attachment repeats the descriptions from the Statutes and the Decision, and further provides black and white illustrations of the flag and the coat of arms. The height of the coat of arms is 45% of the flag's width while the distance from the flag's top and hoist is 3% and 6% of the flag's width, respectively.

The municipality issued in September 2010 "Guidelines for the use of the integral graphical design" (Priročnik o uporabi celostne grafične podobe obćine Tolmin, text), prepared by Matic Leban, a designer from Tolmin. This booklet, unfortunately does not include the flag in the "integral design", only the coat of arms and its use. The document provides the standard colours, as:
- Black: CMYK (%) 0-0-0-100 / Pantone Black / RGB 0-0-0;
- Gray: CMYK (%) 0-0-0-20 / Pantone Cool Gray2 / RGB 218-218-218;
- Yellow: CMYK (%) 0-0-100-0 / Pantone Yellow / RGB 255-255-0;
- Red: CMYK (%) 0-90-86-0 / Pantone Red 032 / RGB 229-53-44;
- Blue: CMYK (%) 100-0-30-2 / Pantone 320 / RGB 0-154-166.
It is stated that the same blue shade is used in the flag.

Željko Heimer, 12 November 2012

Coat of arms of Tolmin

Coat of arms of Tolmin - Images by Željko Heimer, 12 November 2012

The coat of arms of Tolmin is described in Article 7 of the Municipal Statutes as follows:

The coat of arms has a horizontal broken line, representing a civic fortress, dividing the arms in two halves.
In the centre of the top half there is on a red background a yellow flame, representing the rebellion and in the left top corner the year "1713" is inscribed.
In the bottom half of the arms, from right to left on a black background there is a constable's halberd and above it from left to right a rebel's pitchfork, the two represented in silver.

The coat of arms was adopted in 1974, as recounted in the article Zgodovina grba Občine Tolmin (municipal website), which is in turn based on two articles by Ivan Jermol, Akademski slikar Janez Trpin - avtor osnutka grba tolminske obćine and Grb tolminske obćine, published in 1975 in Tolminski zbornik (table of contents).
In 1973, the municipality of Tolmin, then the largest in Slovenia by its area, covering what is today Tolmin, Kobarid and Bovec, decided to adopt a symbol. A commission was appointed for the purpose and a public competition for the design of the symbol was eventually ran. Among the six propoqers, the Ljubljana-based academic painter Janez Trpin (1908-1973) was proclaimed the winner. The coat of arms was adopted on 1 March 1974 by the Municipal Council.
The aforementioned articles also mention the "historcial coat of arms" of Tolmin - actually, obviously a seal - adopted around 1885 and used, probably, until around 1918). The circular seal, inscribed in Slovene and German "Trg Tolmin + Markt Tolmein +" includes in the centre a landscape design showing the top of a hill with the ruins of Kozlov Rob Castle (the old city of Tolmin) and a goat standing on them ("Kozlov rob" means "Billy-Goat's Edge").

Željko Heimer, 12 November 2012

Earlier renditions of the symbols of Tolmin

There are very minor artistic differences between the 1974 design (as shown in Tolminski zbornik, ignoring the odd colouring), the 1996 drawing shown in the Decision and the 2010 "standardized" design.
They include minute differences in the font inscribing the year, in the shape of the flame, in the visibility of the embattelemnts at the edges, in the handles of the weapons - "broken" in the earlier designs, solid in the newest one, in the layout of the river and in the internal white edge - not appearing in the top part of the shield in the 1996 design, and, apparently, intentionally made "transparent" in the 2010 designs.

1996

Rendition of he flag and arms of Tolmin, 1996 - Images by Željko Heimer, 12 November 2012

1974

Rendition of he flag and arms of Tolmin, 1974 - Images by Željko Heimer, 12 November 2012

Željko Heimer, 12 November 2012