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Ljig (Municipality, Serbia)

Љиг

Flag of Ljig - Images by Ivan Sarajčić, 23 September 2007
- Left, as seen hoisted in Ljig on 22 September 2007;
- Right, as officially prescribed but, seemingly, not used

Presentation of Ljig
Flag of Ljig

See also:

Presentation of Ljig

The municipality of Ljig (15,924 inhabitants; 279 sq. km; municipal website), located in central Serbia, at the foot of Mount Rudnik, is made of the small town of Ljig (2,979 inhabitants) and the settlements of Ivanovci, Kozelj, Lalinci, Veliševac, Babajić, Ba, Kalanjevci, Kadina Luka, Jajčić, Liplje, Moravci, Štavica, Gukoš, Milavac, Brančić, Poljanice, Latković, Slavkovica, PaleŽnica, Belanovica, Bošljanović, Donji Banjani, Dići, Cvetanovci, Živkovci and Šutci. Ljig separated from Gukoš in 1922.
The modern town of Ljig appeared in the early 20th century during the building of the Lajkovac-Gornji Milanovac railway, inaugurated in 1917. However, the area was settled much earlier. The remains of the Vavedenje monastery house two big sarcophagi supposed to belong to Despots Đurđe and Stefan Branković (11th century). The tradition says that Jerina, Branković's wife, was buried with him. In the Austrian list of districts (18th century), the village was known as "on the river Ljig"; in 1818 and 1822, the village was mentioned with no more than 50 houses. River Lji was described by the Turkish traveler Evlija Celebija (17th century) as Ligmehri, taking its source in the village of Baht (Ba) and flowing into the Kolubara near Valjevo.
The battle of Kolubara was fought between the Serbian and Austro-Hungarian armies from 16 November to 15 December 1914 near Lijg. In spite of being poorly equipped and numerically weaker (250,000 vs 280,000), the Serbs captured 43,000 enemy soldiers, and the number of Austro-Hungarian casualties was even greater. General Misić was promoted to Vojvoda (Field Marshal), while his Austrian opponent, Potiorek, was retired. Accordingly, Austria withdrew from Serbia and relocated most of its troops to the Italian front.

Ljig is known for the production of plum brandy known as sljivovica (after the Slavic root *sljiva, "a plum"). Some 70% of the national plum production is dedicated to sljivovica, the Serbian national drink. The Ljig spa (Banja Ljig), known since the Roman times, consists in several mineral water springs, with a temperature of 32.5 degrees Celsius. Medical indications are skin diseases, illnesses of the articular system and the gastro-intestinal tract, neuro-psychiatric illnesses and peripheral blood vessels illnesses.

Ivan Sache, 11 December 2006

Flag of Ljig

The flag and arms of Ljig, designed by Tihomir Ačanski, member of the Serbian Heraldry Society, were adopted in 2006.
The coat of arms of Ljig is made of a shield flanked by the Serbian flag (without the coat of arms) and the municipal flag (itself a banner of the shield), following the Serbian use. The supporters appear to be pheasants while the shield is topped by a crown itself surmounted by three golden oak leaves.
The elements of the shield are local, as the river Ljig, plums and a spa fountain.

The flag seen hoisted on the Town Hall on 22 September 2007, however, is not the official flag but a full armorial flag, made of the greater coat of arms on a white background.
This is another example of arbitrary use of municipal flags in Serbia, in spite of official adoption.

Ivan Sarajčić & Ivan Sache, 23 September 2007