Last modified: 2010-01-30 by dov gutterman
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image by Željko Heimer, 5 September 2009
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Motovun (in Italian: Montona) is an ancient town on a hill
overlooking the Mirna river valley. Motovun is quite well known
tourist destination for its exceptional pitorequeness as well as
recently stated film festival. Population 2,500, but only some
600 in the old town on the hill.
Motovun has a histocial coat of arms that was recently
artistically mathced the period. However both I and Tomsialv
found it only on small examples - for me too hard to make much
out of it, except for the description. Anyone at this time blazon
only: azure a five-towered massoned citty argent with gates or on
a tripple mount vert with a rose gules.
Oddly (I say oddly, since the tourism is so important to this
town) the flag is not yet reported...
Željko Heimer, 2 January 2005
Motovun is quite an important tourist place with many
international events which makes it strange that not single info
on the flag is available until now - suggesting that the flag
might not be in use
However, the designer's Heraldic
Art site brings us the drawing of the ceremonial
flag of Motovun. Atypically the ceremonial flag is bicolour
and does not include the inscription of the name of the
community. The name might have been avoided so not to include
bilingual inscriptions in this officially bilingual community.
The bicolour backgrounds is not so easily explained, but the
ceremonial flag need not to follow the government prescriptions
on single colour background (only the "official" i.e.
normal fags are covered with those regulations). The oak
branches, no doubt represent the Motovun forest, surrounding the
city on a steep hill, in the valley of the river Mirna, that is
renown on the truffles growing there - under earth growing
mushrooms highly prized as gastronomic spices. The roses in the
tails are, no doubt inspired by the rose in the coat of arms.
The coat of arms may be blazoned so: azure a five-towered masoned
city argent with gates or on a triple mount vert with a rose
gules.
Željko Heimer, 27 October 2007
On the web site of the community there is the 2006
Statutes including the description of the coat of arms and
flag in its article 5: Statut Opcine Motovun / Comune di Montona,
16.03.2006, Službene novine Grada Pazina, br. 7/2006,
17-03-2006, str. 156-171.
Possibly the same was available in previous 2001 Statutes and
there should be a decision with further details, but for now
these are not available on-line.
The description of the coat of arms is rather long: "The
coat of arms of Opcina Motovun / Comune di Montona is shaped as
stylized shield. In the lower part of its field is a green field
with three bulges (three hills), and in the centre of it is a
dark red flower with five leaves and golden seeds. Above the
green field up to the centre of the shield there are raising
walls (castle) with two-wings doors with semi-circular arch in
the centre of the walls. The doors, coloured golden are above the
central, highest hill. On the walls there are five towers, the
one in the centre, above the walls being highest, reaching almost
to the top of the shield, the two towers on each side being
progressively lower towards the edges of the walls. The walls in
their top edge and in a festoon, while the towers each have three
festoons and two windows. The central highest tower also has a
door, right above the castle doors. The walls and towers are
silver, while the uncovered field of the shield is blue. Around
the shield is a golden border."
The description of the flag is even more complicated and read
literally is a bit confusing, as if someone could not decide
weather to describe a normal horizontal official flag or the
vertical ceremonial gonfalon - but that is hardly unusual in
Croatian municipal statutes. However, I believe that somewhat
less literal interpretation does provide us with the official
flag we have been missing so far.
Anyway here is the literal translation: "The flag of the
Opcina Motovun / Comune di Montona is of rectangular shape, in
the ration of the length (height) and width 2:1, produced of
atlas silk, polyester or cotton material. The flag is composed of
two equal horizontal fields, the one at the top being green, and
the bottom - yellow. In the centre thereof, at the crossing-point
of the diagonals, equally distanced from the top and the bottom
and from the left and the right edge of the flag is set the coat
of arms of the Opcina Motovun / Comune di Montona. A half of the
coat of arms is in the green and a half in the yellow field of
the flag. The height of the coat of arms is 2/3 of the height of
the flag. Along the edges of the flag, except the one used for
hoisting at attachment to the staff, there is fringe of 6 cm
coloured golden."
Željko Heimer, 5 September 2009
image by Željko Heimer, 27 October 2007
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image by Željko Heimer, 27 October 2007