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Lika-Senj County (Croatia)

Ličko-senjska županija

Last modified: 2016-08-13 by ivan sache
Keywords: lika-senj county |
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[County flag]

Flag of the Lika-Senj County - Image by Željko Heimer, 25 July 2013


See also:


Presentation of the Lika-Senj County

the Lika-Senj County is situated in central and coastal parts of Croatia, in background of Velebit mountain range (Lika) and coast called Croatian Coast (as opposite to Dalmatian coast further south). It is one of the less developed counties, many parts of it being at high elevation with little possibilities for intensive agriculture and with little developed coast. The County also includes the northern part of the island of Pag. Moreover, the County includes several national parks and nature protected areas, the most well-known being the Plitvice Lakes and Velebit Mountains. Also, several imortant transit routes are going through it.
Inner parts of the County were historically parts of the Military Border, the bulwark against the Turks, when considerable number of Serbs inhabited it. After the declaration of independence, the Serbian separatists proclaimed the Republic of Serbian Krajina in the eastern parts of the County and held it occupied until 1995 (as the beggining of the uprising are counted the incidents around Plitvice Lakes). The County capital is Gospić, therefore the Lika-Senj County is one of the few counties whose name does not contain the name of the capital.

Željko Heimer, 25 May 2000


Flag of the Lika-Senj County

The symbols of the Lika-Senj County are prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Ličko-senjske županije, adopted on 22 December 1995 by the County Assembly and published on 28 December 1995 in the County official gazette Županijski glasnik Županije ličko-senjske, No. 11.
The 1995 Decision was amended by Decision Odluka o izmjenama i dopunama Odluke o grbu i zastavi Ličko-senjske županije, adopted by the County Assembly on 25 September 2009 and published the same day in Županijski glasnik Županije Ličko-senjske, No. 16. The consolidated Decision, including all the amendments, Odluka o grbu i zastavi Ličko-senjske županije (pročišćeni tekst), was adopted by the County Assembly on 11 November 2009 and published on 20 November 2009 in Županijski glasnik Županije Ličko-senjske, No. 21.

The symbols are described in the County Statutes Statut Ličko-senjske županije, adopted on 27 September 2001 by the County Assembly and published the same day in Županijski glasnik Ličko-senjske županije, No. 16. This is repeated in the County Statutes, Statut Ličko-senjske županije, adopted on 27 July 2009 by the County Assembly and published the same day in Županijski glasnik Ličko-senjske županije, No. 11, and in the current, consolidated county Statutes Statut Ličko-senjske županije (pročišćeni tekst), adopted on 13 December 2010 by the County Assembly and published the same day in Županijski glasnik Ličko-senjske županije, No. 22.

The symbols were designed by the Heraldic Art d.o.o. company from Rijeka.

The flag is described in Article 8 of the Decision as follows:

The flag of the County is white and blue. The ratio of width to length is 1:2. In the middle of the flag at the crossing point of diagonals is the coat of arms of the County. The coat of arms is set on a white background and is outlined golden. Above and below the coat of arms, along the entire length of the flag are two blue stripes, equally distant from the coat of arms.

The symbols were approved by the Ministry of Administration on 19 April 1996. The approval document includes an additional detail, which is not present in the other legal texts: the width of the blue stripes along the upper and lower edges shall be 1/7 of the flag's width.

Željko Heimer, 15 October 2011


Coat of arms of the Lika-Senj County

[County coat of arms]

Coat of arms of the Lika-Senj County - Image by Željko Heimer, 25 July 2013

The coat of arms is described in Article 5 of the Decision as follows:

The coat of arms of the County in in a shield shape. In a blue field is a flower of Degenia velebitica, composed of four oval, at the top slightly pointed petals, within which there are four stamens. On the stem are two sharp elongated leaves.
Degenia velebitica, endemic of the region, is a very delicate small yellow flower.

Željko Heimer, 15 October 2011


Ceremonial flag of the Lika-Senj County

[County ceremonial flag]         [County ceremonial flag]

Ceremonial flag of the Lika-Senj County, left, 2000-, right, 1995-2000- - Images by Željko Heimer, 28 July 2016

The ceremonial flag (photo, photo, photo, photo, photo) is described in Article 9 of the Decision as follows:

The ceremonial flag of the County (gonfalon) is in size 160 cm x 80 cm. The basic colour is dark blue. The edges of the flag are sewn with a ribbon coloured golden, and on the bottom of the flag the tails are ornamented with a fringe.
In the middle of the flag is the coat of arms of the County bordered golden. Above the coat of arms is the inscription "Županija Ličko-senjska" in golden letters.
In the tails of the flag are golden wattled branches of olive (symbol of prosperity and fertility), oak (symbol of strength and wisdom) and grapevine (symbol of life and immortality).

Decision Odluka o izmjenama i dopunama Odluke o grbu i zastavi Ličko-senjske županije, adopted on 28 March 2000 by the County Assembly and published on 3 April 2000 in Županijski glasnik Ličko-senjske županije, No. 3, changed some procedural issues. It also changed the words "Županija Ličko-senjska" into "Ličko-senjska županija" throughout - which also impacted the description of the ceremonial flag.

Željko Heimer & Marko Vitez, 28 July 2016


Table flag of the Lika-Senj County

[County ceremonial flag]

Table flag of the Lika-Senj County - Image by Željko Heimer, 24 October 2013

The table flag (photo, photo, photo), used with several minor variations, is a vertical version of the flag ending triangularly, with horizontal blue-white-blue stripes, the coat of arms in the centre and the county's name inscribed in the blue stripes.

Željko Heimer, 24 October 2013


Unofficial flag of the Lika-Senj County

[Proposed flag of the County]

Unofficial flag of the Lika-Senj County - Image by Željko Heimer, 21 June 1999

A light blue flag with the County's coat of arms in the middle was seen used by the County in official ceremonies several times on TV footages, at least since 1996.

Željko Heimer, 15 October 2011


Tomislav Goluban's proposed flag for the Lika-Senj County

[Proposed flag of the County]

Proposed flag for the Lika-Senj County - Image by Željko Heimer, 22 February 2016

The public contest of the County symbols was prescribed by Decision Odluka o provedbi postupka utvrđivanja grba i zastave Ličko-senjske, adopted by the County Assembly on 28 December 1994 and published the same day in Županijski glasnik Županije ličko-senjske, No. 6. The basic design guidelines and technical requirements were listed and the contest was to be organized within 15 days after the Decision, to last for 30 days. A jury was prescribed for judging the designs, to be named subsequently, while the awards were prescribed to 7,500, 5,000 and 3,000 HRK for the three winning designs.
The jury was appointed by Resolution Rješenje o imenovanju ćlanova Ocjenjivačkog suda za ocjenu idejnog rješenja grba i zastave Županije, adopted on 26 January 1995 by the County Assembly and published on 20 March 1995 in Županijski glasnik Županije ličko-senjske, No. 3. The jury, chaired by the County Mayor, included 9 members, each from a different town of municipality.

Tomislav Goluban is a designer from Zagreb who participated in several contests for the design of symbols in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He sucessfully dproposed symbols for the Varaždin County (first prise, eventually modified with the elements of the second prize) and Vrbovec (Croatia), and Livno (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
His proposal for the Lika-Senj County is horizontally divided green-white-blue, dancetty with a stripe of white lacework along the bottom.
The author described the design starting with the explanation of the complexity of the very different regions that are included in the County, from the Lika hinterland over the high mountain range of Velebit stretching along the coast to the seaside and even islands off the coast. He represented the hinterland with vegetation - green and the coastal parts with sea - blue with the length of rocky - white mountains in between. The off-the-coast islands are represented in the base with a stripe of white intricate lacework typical for the Pag island.

Željko Heimer, 22 February 2016