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Saborsko (Municipality, Karlovac County, Croatia)

Flag of Saborsko - Image by Željko Heimer, 7 November 2010

Presentation of Saborsko
Flag of Saborsko
Coat of arms of Saborsko

See also:

Presentation of Saborsko

The municipality of Saborsko is located some 80 km south of Karlovac, bordering with the municipality of Plitvička jezera; in fact, a quarter of the municipal territory is part of the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Saborsko is set in a valley between mountains, forming a very long village, claimed by some to be the longest village in Croatia. The village sufferred much during the Homeland War; the population is now about 800, with almost 20% of Serbs, who are mostly living in the five surrounding villages forming the municipality.
Saborsko is mentioned in a document dated 1486 recounting the places given to the rule of Stjepan Frankopan II of Ozalj. Left almost desert during the Ottoman raids, the place was repopulated in the 18th century; the old parish church was rebuilt in 1726 and dedicated to Mother of God of Rosary, now to the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Population reached over 2000 before the First World War.

Saborsko entered the Croatian news in recent times due to its infamous (now former) Mayor, who is practising shamanism, although member of the conservative HDZ; his rituals of consuming nightshade plant in "magic brews" resulted last year in the death of some of his disciples.

Željko Heimer, 7 November 2010

Flag of Saborsko

The symbols of Saborsko are prescribed by Statutory Decision Statutarna odluka o grbu i zastavi Općine Saborsko te način i zaštita njihove uporabe, adopted on 28 May 2010 by the Municipality Assembly (article) and published on 17 June 2010 in the County official gazette Glasnik Karlovačke županije, No. 23.
The symbols were approved on 14 June 2010 by the central authorities (article).

Decision Odluka o izradi grba i zastave (Općine Saborsko), adopted on 5 March 2010 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 21 March 2010 in the County official gazette Glasnik Karlovačke županije, No. 11, orders the design of the symbols. To whom they were ordered is not stated, provided this was already known.
Three flag designs were proposed on 8 March 2010 (article), with the already selected coat of arms, the first being green, the second blue and the third dark blue.

The symbols were designed by Antonio Grgić, owner of the Pikant marketing company in Koprivnica.

The flag is described in Article 7 of the Decision as follows:

The flag of the Municipality of Saborsko is with proportions 1:2, blue with the coat of arms of the Municipalityin the middle.

Željko Heimer, 29 October 2011

Coat of arms of Saborsko

Coat of arms of Saborsko - Image by Željko Heimer, 7 November 2010

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

On a green background the contour of a church coloured white.

The arms show the old stone-masoned parish church (photo) with the typical belfry of the "distaff" type, built in 1726, a cultural monument of the zero category. The star is a reminder to the history and the symbol of rulers of the Frankopan family, during whose rule Saborsko was first mentioned in the 15th century

Four proposals were published for discussion on 6 February 2010 on the municipal website (article). All of them were prepared by Grgić, but it is not clear whether he won some contest prior to this or was he commissioned by the municipal administration. The proposed designs were numbered 1, 2, 4 and 5; design #3 had probably been discarded earlier. They are blazoned as follows:
#2: "Azure a church argent on a mount vert and in chief a mullet or."
#1: "Azure a masoned bridge argent over a base wavy of the same and in chief a mullet or."
#4: "Azure a pine tree vert trunked or on a triple mount also vert and in chief argent wavy a mullet or."
#5: "Azure a cross eradicated or on a triple mount also vert and in chief argent wavy a mullet or."
A further article, 3 March 2010, provides more explanation of the design #2, favoured by the municipal administration. This design was eventually selected on 5 March 2010 (article). However the flag was not decided upon, although reported to be blue of slightly darker shade the the one used in the coat of arms.

Željko Heimer, 29 October 2011