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Gradište (Municipality, Vukovar-Srijem County, Croatia)

Flag of Gradište - Image by Željko Heimer, 2 November 2007

Presentation of Gradište
Flag of Gradište
Coat of arms of Gradište
Ceremonial flag of Gradište
Former symbols of Gradište

See also:

Presentation of Gradište

The municipality of Gradište (3,382 inhabitants in 2001) is located 30 km south-west of Vukovar, just north of Županje.

Željko Heimer, 26 July 2004

Flag of Gradište

The symbols of Gradište are prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Općine Gradište, te načinu i uvjetima njihove uporabe i zaštite, adopted on 19 October 1998 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 17 March 1999 in the County official gazette Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 2. This invalidates the Decision that prescribed other symbols.
The symbols are described in the Municipality Statutes Statut Općine Gradište, adopted on 2 October 2001 and published on 15 October 2001 in Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 11.

The symbols, designed by the Heraldic Art d.o.o. company from Rijeka, were approved on 19 January 1998 by the Ministry of Administration.

The flag is in proportions 1:2, yellow with the coat of arms in the middle. The height of the coat of arms is 2/3 of the flag's width.

Article Nezadovoljstvo oblikom i bojom općinske zastave, published on 24 April 1999 in Vinkovački list (scan), reports the public dissatisfaction of the local chapter of HDZ, at the time the ruling party in Croatia, but in the opposition in Gradište. Among the other issues they resent to the locally ruling HSLS, they expressed dissatisfaction with the shape and, especially, the colour of the municipality flag, that "is associated to the party colours of the majority in the assembly". They suggest that the characters of the municipality coat of arms and flag should be reached through a consensus and that prior to the adoption the Commission for the coat of arms and the flag should have discussed the issue, but that the "HDZ coucillors were roughly outvoted".

Željko Heimer & Tomislav Šipek, 25 April 2014

Coat of arms of Gradište

Coat of arms of Gradište - Image by Željko Heimer, 2 November 2007

The coat of arms is prescribed as a red shield with a silver fleur-de-lis with pistils and in chief dexter and sinister a golden gourd with a black double wattle. The double wattle is obviously based on the much more common used triple wattle. The richly ornamented gourds represent a beautiful component of the local folklore, already used in the previous arms.

Željko Heimer, 25 April 2014

Ceremonial flag of Gradište

Ceremonial flag of Gradište - Image by Željko Heimer, 4 November 2007

The ceremonial flag (not mentioned in the Decision) is a blue gonfalon with three triangularly ending tails, the middle one being longer, with the coat of arms in the middle, the name of the municipality on two arched lines above and three oak branches ornaments in the tails.

Željko Heimer, 4 November 2007

Former symbols of Gradište

Former flag and arms of Gradište - Image by Željko Heimer, 25 April 2014

The first symbols of Gradište were prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi općine Gradište, adopted on 29 December 1993 and published on 28 February 1994 in Službeni vjesnik Županije Vukovarsko-srijemske, No. 2.

The symbols, designed by Gordan Kovačević, a Gradište-born architect living in Županja, were rejected in 1995 by the Ministry, stating that the coat of arms is unheraldic and that the flag is uncompliant with the rules, being two-coloured and with the coat of arms set in irregular position.

The flag is described in Article 5 as follows:

The flag of the Municipality of Gradište is 200 cm x 100 cm. The appropriate position at the hoisting place is vertical. The colors of the flag are set vertically, that is, as looked from the front in this order left to right: yellow (1/20 of the flag width), blue (1/10), yellow (1/20), blue (1/10) and yellow (7/10). The two blue stripes represent the two rivers of the region - Bosut and Berava, at the west of the municipal territory and the yellow stripes represent the corn fields, in fact the main activity of the inhabitants, agriculture.
Centrally, in the top half of the wider yellow field, it is set the coat of arms of the place, 4/10 of the flag's width in width.

The coat of arms is described in Article 4 as follows:

The coat of arms of the Municipality of Gradište is in a shield shape, with a ratio of width to height of 1:1.25. It is divided horizontally in two fields with a line contour of the Gradište hill - the most important topographical feature of the territory.
In the top blue field, on the contour is standing a chapel and to its left four stations of the Cross, symbolizing the sacral group of buildings - so called Kalvarija - unique and dominant characteristic of Gradište. The location of the Danica star [Morning star] (colored yellow) - an other important issue of our nationality - in the coat of arms matches that in reality. The lower field of the shield is in fact a segment of the historical Croatian arms - the squares. In the top white field - below the small church - a gourd, recounts in a tighter sense on the coloring of gourds - the original Gradište art, but also on the inclination of the citizens to ennoble their everyday's life. In the lower white field in contour - the drawing of a marten - also a detail from the state arms, as a sign of affiliation to Slavonia. The entire shield is edged with a yellow border. Above the shield is a ribbon with the name of the place. The ribbon is blue and the letters are white, in "Bold" type.

Željko Heimer, 16 July 2011