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Orahovica (Town, Virovitica-Podravina County, Croatia)

image by Željko Heimer, 21 January 2022

Presentation of Orahovica
Flag of Orahovica
Coat of arms of Orahovica
Ceremonial flag of Orahovica

See also:

Presentation of Orahovica

The Town of Orahovica (5,792 inhabitants in 2001, 4,262 in the town of Orahovica) is located 60 km south-east from Virovitica. The Municipality status was granted in 1993 anf upgraded to Town in 1997.
Orahovica is the birth place of the former Croatian president Stjepan Mesić (b. 1934, in office, 2000-2010); the region is also known for it quality wines.

Željko Heimer, 17 August 2016

Flag of Orahovica

The symbols of Orahovica are prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi grada Orahovice, adopted in 2004 by the Town Council and published in the Town official gazette Službeni glasnik Grada Orahovice, No. 3. This was superseded by Decision Odluka o grbu, zastavi, svećanoj zastavi i svećanoj pjesmi grada Orahovice, adopted on 6 October 2009 by the Town Council and published in Službeni glasnik Grada Orahovice. The new Decision adds the prescription of the ceremonial flag and the ceremonial anthem.

The symbols, which were designed by the Heraldic Art d.o.o. company, from Rijeka, were approved on 13 December 2004 by the Central State Office for Administration.

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

The Town Assembly rejected early proposals depicting a rose>, prefering a representation of the Ružica citadel, whose ruins overlook the modern town of Orahevac (in Croatian,ružica means "a rose" (Niža vrijednost komunalnog boda, Virovitićki list, 2 April 1999).
The Town Assembly once again rejected with indignation the proposals omitting the ruined fort from the arms: "Ružica fort should be placed in the coat of arms of Orahovica. The heraldists from Zagreb and the Commission for approval of coat of arms and flags of towns and municipalities do not understand the great love the Orahovica people have for their region; since they probably neither visited these beautiful region and felt breath of spring in this fresh green nature, they are unable to understand that love just as they cannot understand that the Ružica fort may not be represented simply with some heraldic charge, such a rose of any kind extracted from a computer." (Prolje@1x0107;e u Orahovici, Virovitićki list, 16 April 1999).
The Town Council formed a task force to design a coat of arms and a flag featuring the Ružica fort. In 1996, they reportedly drafted a proposal based on nobility arms of the region; the proposal was not even submitted for approval, since the commission explained that similar charges were already used by many other towns and municipalities. The locals felt "rightfully" enraged again, providing examples of towns sharing similar charges, as a counter-argument (Ružica grad ili grbovi plemičkih obitelji, Virovitićki list, 7 April 2000).
The symbols were eventually consecrated on 2 May 2005, as part of the celebrations of the Feast of Exaltation of the Cross, being the Town Day of Orahovica (Najzaslužnijima uručena javna priznanja, Virovitićki list, 6 May 2005).

Željko Heimer & Marko Vitez, 17 August 2016

Coat of arms of Orahovica

image by Željko Heimer, 21 January 2022

The coat of arms is "Or a ruined fort sable".
The ruined fort represents the Ružica citadel, erected in the 13th century on a hill overlooking Orahovica.

Željko Heimer, 18 April 2005

Ceremonial flag of Orahovica

image by Željko Heimer, 21 January 2022

The ceremonial flag is a blue gonfalon with three triangularly ending tails containing golden ornaments of grapevine and oak branches, in the centre of it is the coat of arms and above the name of the town on two lines.

Željko Heimer, 25 April 2011