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Međimurje County (Croatia)

Međimurska županija

Flag of Međimurje County, horizontal and vertical versions - Images by Željko Heimer, 11 July 1999

Subdivisions of Međimurje County

Towns
Čakovec (County seat)
Mursko Središće
Prelog

Municipalities:

See also:

Presentation of Međimurje County

Međimurje County (in Hungarian, Muraköz, köz; meaning "the territory between the rivers") is the northernmost and smallest county in Croatia. Is is situated between rivers Drava (south) and Mura (north, along the Hungarian border). Most of the area was once owned by high Croatian nobility, but during the centuries it became considered as part of the Hungarian Kingdom (and not under administration of the Parliament in Zagreb under the Habsburg Empire). With the declaration of independence of Croatian lands from Austria-Hungary in 1918, it was proclaimed once again a part of Croatia, and Serb troops helped in maintaining it so within the newly formed south-slavic country. After that time a strong dehungarization was performed, so until the Second World War there were already small number of Hungarians living there. During the Second World War, it was annexed to Hungary, but after the war returned to Yugoslavia. The rather large Jewish community that led the industrial developement of the region was scattered or killed during the war. However, Međimurje remained one of the best developed and richest regions of Croatia.

Željko Heimer & István Molnár, 19 September 2000

Flag of Međimurje County

The symbols of Međimurje County are prescribed by Decision Odluka o izmjenama i dopunama Odluke o grbu i zastavi Županije međimurske, adopted on 19 September 1996 by the County Assembly and published in the County official gazette Službeni glasnik županije Međimurske, No. 4, modifying the former flag of the County without changing the coat of arms. The original Decision was amended by Decision Odluka o izmjeni Odluke o grbu i zastavi Međimurske županije, adopted on 3 June 2002 and published on 9 July 2002 in Službeni glasnik Međimurske Županije, No. 5. Some procedure details regarding the grant of use of the symbols to legal and physical persons were changed, due to changes in the County's administrative structure. The Amendment was eventually included in the consolidated Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Međimurske županije (pročišćeni tekst), adopted on 25 September 2002 and published on 3 October 2002 in Službeni glasnik Međimurske županije, No. 6. Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Međimurske županije, adopted on 28 October 2010 and published on 29 October 2010 in Službeni glasnik Međimurske županije, No. 23 (text), superseded the previous Decisions, amendments and consolidated text, changing some procedural issues; however, the description of the symbols remain the same as in the original Decision.
The symbols are described in the Amendment to the County Statutes Izmjene i dopune Statuta Međimurske županije, adopted on 20 September 2001 and published on 11 October 2001 in Službeni glasnik Međimurske županije, No. 5. This is repeated in the consolidated County Statutes Statut Međimurske županije (pročišćeni tekst), adopted on 24 October 2001 and published on 29 October 2001 in Službeni glasnik Međimurske županije, No. 6, and in the most recent consolidated County Statutes Statut Međimurske županije (pročišćeni tekst), adopted on 15 September 2009 and published on 25 September 2009 in Službeni glasnik Međimurske županije, No. 15 (text).
The symbols were approved by the Ministry on 10 July 1996.

The flag (photo) is in proportions 1:2, vertically divided white and red with the coat of arms in the middle.
The vertical version of the flag (photo by István Molnár and table flag received from the county) is not a rotated version of the horizontal flag, remaining vertically divided.

The County Statutes have a rather vague description of the flag that was probably left over from the previous version of the flag, but which basically also describes the flag approved in 1996:

The flag consists of three colors: red, white and blue with a yellow six-pointed star in the centre of the blue field.

Željko Heimer, 16 June 2012

Coat of arms of Međimurje County

Coat of arms of Međimurje County - Image by Željko Heimer, 11 July 1999

The coat of arms of Međimurje County was adopted, together with the former County flag by Decision Odluke o grbu i zastavi Županije međimurske, adopted on 23 November 1994 and published in 1996 in Službeni glasnik županije Međimurske, No. 4.

Conclusion ZakljuĐak o osnutku i imenovanju Odbora za raspisivanje i provođenje natječaja za idejno rješenje zastave i grba Županije međimurske, adopted on 2 February 1994 and published on 1 March 1994 in Službeni glasnik županije Međimurske, No. 1, established a Commission to issue and conduct a public competition for the design of the flag and the coat of arms. The Commission, headed by the County Mayor, Marijan Ramušćak, was composed of Marija Zidarić, an academic painter from Čakovec, Zvonimir Bartolić, from Čakovec, Vladimir Kalšan, the curator of the Međimurje Museum in Šenkovec, and Tibor Horvat, an architect from Čakovec.
Among 28 designs received under author's codes, the selection committee selected as the best design for the county symbols the design submitted under the code "Međa" by Boris Ljubičić, the renowned Croatian designer. This was the first time in the history that the county got its own symbols as a separate county (Varaždinske vijesti, 27 July 1994).
The County Magistrate adopted the text of the Decision on the county symbols with six vote for and four against, to be submitted to the next session of the County Assembly. There were "heard many challenges [against the design] in media, so that the assembly members shall have to pass the judgement". There is no indication on what the "challenges" were (Varaždinske vijesti, 19 October 1994).

The coat of arms is described as follows:

The coat of arms is in the semi-circular shield shape in the lower part and the square shape in the top part. It is divided with a horizontal and a vertical division into three parts. The top left part is red, the top right part is white. The lower part is blue with a yellow six-pointed star.

Since there was no historical coat of arms of the county, a new, modern coat of arms was adopted. The 1996 Decision only changed the wording of the 1994 Decision in a more heraldical language, but the design stays the same.

Željko Heimer, 3 November 2013

Former flag of Međimurje County

Former flag of Međimurje County - Image by Željko Heimer, 11 July 1999

The first flag of Međimurje County was adopted, together with the coat of arms by Decision Odluke o grbu i zastavi Županije međimurske, adopted on 23 November 1994 and published in 1996 in Službeni glasnik županije Međimurske, No. 4.

The flag is a variation of the banner of arms, vertically divided, at hoist quartered red and white quartered, at fly blue with a yellow six-pointed star. That flag was never official, since the 1994 Decision was not published in the official gazette until 1996, together with the Decision that superseded it. However, it seems that it was at least in unofficial use in certain occasions.

Željko Heimer, 2 October 2011