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Gvozd (Municipality, Sisak-Moslavina County, Croatia)

Flag of Gvozd - Image by Željko Heimer, 24 December 2013

Presentation of Gvozd
Flag of Gvozd
Coat of arms of Gvozd
Table flag of Gvozd

See also:

Presentation of Gvozd

The municipality of Gvozd (3,779 inhabitants in 2011) consists of 18 settlements, with the village of Vrginmost (1,303 inh.) as its administrative seat. Vrginmost was renamed Gvozd from 1996 to 2012. While the majority of inhabitants of Vrginmost are Croats, the surrounding villages are mainly populated with Serbs.
Gvozd is the name of a mountain located outside Vrginmost, infamous in the Croatian history as the site of a battle that opposed in 1097 the Croats led by Petar Svačić and the Hungarians led by king Coloman. Petar Svačić, killed in the battle, is remembered as the "last Croatian king of the national blood". Gvozd has been since then often named Petrova gora (Petar's Mountain) in memory of the fallen hero. Much of the story was romanticized and historians are putting large questionmarks to almost every detail. A famous painting by Oton Iveković (image) shows Petar Svačić fallen over a Croatian chequy banner - which is, of course, anachronistic.

Željko Heimer, 26 October 2013

Flag of Gvozd

The symbols of Gvozd were adopted on 18 December 2013 by the Municipal Assembly (session's agenda).
The arms were soon used s used in the Christmas greeting of the municipality (image), although the new symbols shall formally be valid only after the publication of the Decision in an official gazette.

Decision Odluka o usvajanju Prijedloga Odluke o grbu i zastavi Općine Gvozd, adopted on 6 September 2012 and published in 9 September 2012 in the official gazette Službeni vjesnik, No. 31 (text), adopted the proposed symbols, without any description. The proposals were submitted to the Ministry of Administration, which approved them on 16 September 2013.

The symbols were designed by Antonio Grgić (Pikant marketing, Koprivnica).

The flag is in proportions 1:2, blue with the coat of arms, bordered yellow, in the middle.

Željko Heimer & Marko Vitez, 24 December 2013, after information kindly supplied by the Mayor of Gvozd

Coat of arms of Gvozd

Coat of arms of Gvozd - Image by Željko Heimer, 24 December 2013

The coat of arms of Gvozd is "Vert a wooden bridge ensigned with a crown or pierced with two arrows argent in saltire points to the chief".
The bridge refers to the village of Vrginmost (lit., Vrga's bridge), established near the bridge built in 1688 over river Trepča by the Vrga family.
The crown pierced with arrows refers to the death of King Petar Svačić, the last Croatian king "of national blood", killed in 1097 in the battle fought in Gvozd mountain.
The green background refers to the mountain itself, its name being the archaic word for "a forest".

Željko Heimer, 24 December 2013

Table flag of Gvozd

Table flag of Gvozd - Image by Željko Heimer, 25 July 2016

The table flag (photo) is simply the vertical version of the official flag, with a somewhat larger coat of arms slightly offset towards the top.

Željko Heimer & Marko Vitez, 25 July 2016