Last modified: 2007-06-02 by dov gutterman
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image by Željko Heimer, 23 January 2007
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Vrgorac is a city in the Split-.Dalmatia County, in region
known as Imotska krajina in the hinterland, about 100 km
south-east from Split. 7,500
inhabitants, 2,200 in the town of the same name. Until 1910 the
name was spelled Vrhgorac (from which is obvious meaning of the
name "top of the mountain" that may not be so obvious
nowadays). First mentioned in documents in 1419. Of a very
important strategic position it was well fortified, but
nevertheless in second half of 15th century it was taken by Turks
and held over 200 years. After the liberation in 1690 the mosque
built where once stood a small chapel was again transformed into
a chruch, rebuilt in 1913. Today the city is interesting tourist
desitination for those who are fed up with coast and seek for
other things then sun and sea. The city is dominated by the seven
medieval fortified towers. The Coat of Arms
of Vrgorac shown on the web site <www.vrgorac.hr> is: gules
from a rock argent a massoned tower issuant and atop of it
sinister a tower topped with a mast flying a flag azure.
The flag seems to be light blue with the coat of arms in the
middle, but confirmation is necessary.
If this Coat of Arms is a modernization of a historical one or a
newly devised, I wouldn't know (althugh no Coat of Arms is shown
for Vrgorac in 1934 Laszowski book).
Željko Heimer, 5 July 2006
The Vrgorac blog shows
the image of the flag. It is probably in wrong ratio, cause
croatian local flags are in 1:2 ratio.
Valentin Poposki, 23 January 2007
I have no doubt that this is the flag. The image of the Coat
of Arms at the official web site of the community has the Coat of
Arms shown on the light blue background - although this means
nothing, it may indicate that light blue was at least considered
as appropriate background for the flag. The Vrgorac blog describe the flag
as dark blue - and I guess that this description may be based on
flags seen in use in vrgorac on the community hall or something
so it may be considered relevant (more relevant then the
deduction from a background of a Coat of Arms image I metnioned
above).
However, there are other claims in the short article on the blog
that do not sound very much convincing to me, and I would prefer
if we had some references where they got them..
The text there says (my translation):" The communities of
Dalmatia were granted official coats of arms in 1865. Among them
was also the community of Vrgorac. The Coat of Arms of Vrgorac is
in shield shape coloured red. In its base are depicted silver
caves on which is a massoned tower also silver. Atop of the tower
is a smaller silver turret topped with a flying flag of bluec.
Afterwards the Coat of Arms was set in the middle of the
Vrgorac's flag which is dark blue. In 1865 the Coat of Arms was
set above the main entrance into the community hall and in all
official seals. From the community hall it was removed in 1929.
On 6 January 1929 the Yugoslav King Alexander introduced a
dictatorship when all national emblems (flags, Coat of Arms,
anthems) and work of all "tribal" (=national)
organizations was forbidden. The Coat of Arms and the flag are
afterwards returned and now serve as official symbols of the City
of Vrgorac."
I have problem with the claim that 1865 all communities in
Dalmatia were garnted Coat of Arms. I know of none such case,
even for the large cities - although I certainly don't want to
claim that it was not so - only I have never seen any claim to
that except in an article written by a certain priest from
Vrgorac who mentioned the fact in a newspapers. I don't know
where he got it from, and maybe he confuzed Coat of Arms with
administrative seals. Certainly here is a place for research...
I am very much doubtful that the Coat of Arms if older then
1990's and certainly it is not included in the Lazowski book
"Grbovi Jugoslavije" which is indicative that he had no
idea about any community Coat of Arms of Dalmatia during the
Austrian administration - something he would have known and
included (since he does show Coat of Arms of ridiculously small
villages in Slavonia and Vojvodina that for some reason were
granted Coat of Arms during Austrian-Hungarian rule). Of
Dalmatian Coat of Arms he has Biograd (1870), Komiža (?),
Korcula (1898), Milna (on Brac, 19th c.), Nin (?), Novigrad (?),
Omiš (?), Pag (?), Rab (13th c.), Skradin (19th c.), Split
(?), Starigrad/Hvar (?), Šibenik (?) and Trogir (?). The
questionmarks here mean taht Laszowski do not mention the year of
origin of the Coat of Arms, so this as a rule means pre-Austrian
rule, but this may be indicative that we may dismiss the 1865 as
a year of the grant of Coat of Arms for Dalmatian communites. Of
coruse, this list leaves a number of communities without Coat of
Arms.
Anyway, this does not mean that the seal or some other emblem (or
even Coat of Arms) was not used in 19th century depicting a
design on which the modern Coat of Arms was based, and I suppose
that there would be some evidence that there was indeed some Coat
of Arms (possibly stone carved) set on the community building in
1865 - the tower with turret is, of course, the depction of the
Vrgorac fortress and a natural choice for a symbol. I would very
much like to know the source the athor have, and probably the
same source has the claim that this Coat of Arms above the
entrance was removed in 1929. This shall quite probably easily be
true, however, I am very much doubting in the explanation - while
it holds that in 1929 Alexander introduced dictatorship and that
the national emblems (which include the Croatian tricolour and
chequy shield, but also emblems of other nations in Yugoslavia)
were banned from use, I see no reason why one would have to
remove a community Coat of Arms? It was not a national emblem (or
did it include the tricolour then?).
Well, too many questions are left unanswered, and I hope that
soon we shall be able to solve them.
I am very much convinced that the flag was not used before 1990's
and it must have been adopted for the first time when the Coat of
Arms was being adopted, according to my estimations around 2004,
but it may have been as early as 1997 or so... This should be
easier to find out...
Anyway, this would mean that the last sentence in the text above
is not quite exact, the symbols were not "returned"
they were adopted anew (the Coat of Arms possibly based on some
historical pattern as I mentioned above, but the flag most
probably is completely new thing).
And finally, as the blog author adds in a comment of this
article, he is not sure if the Coat of Arms and the flag were
used during the Socialist Yugoslavia, or even before and admits
that the history there is a bit hazzy. He promises to research
more, so we'll keep the site under "surveillance".
However, I am pretty sure that he shall find somthing like I have
recounted above.
Željko Heimer, 23 January 2007
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image by Željko Heimer, 5 July 2006