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Prostějov city, Czech Republic

Prostějov okres, Olomouc region

Last modified: 2018-05-22 by kryštof huk
Keywords: prostejov |
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[Prostějov city flag] by Jarig Bakker, 14 Jan 2001.
adopted 12 Feb 1992 See also:

Prostějov city flag

Image after Petr Exner's Vexilologický Lexikon prapory obcí Čr (1991-1994) - Prostějov, Prostějov district, Olomouc region - adopted 12 Feb 1992.
Prostějov or German: Prossnitz is a city c. 50 km NE of Brno with (1980) 50.000 inhabitants. There are textile mills and it is a trade center for grain.
Aleš Křižan, 19 Dec 2000

Prostějov vertical flag

[Prostějov vertical flag]  by Jarig Bakker, 21 Dec 2000, based on info by Aleš Křižan, 19 Dec 2000 

Prostějov Coat of Arms

[Prostějov Coat of Arms]  image from this website.

Description: Per pale or and azure. Dexter fretty gules nailed with six-pointed stars or; sinister a demitiated eagle sable armed or.
Aleš Křižan, 19 Dec 2000

Prostějov Pirate Party Flag

[Prostějov Pirate Party Flag]  image from Prostějov Pirate Party Facebook page.

Many Czech municipalities don't realize, that they don't have the right to demand that people obtain permission to use/modify their municipal symbols. Quite a famous example of this was the Czech Pirate Party branch of Prostějov. The party decided to create their own flag, which they used as their Facebook page icon, by superimposing half of a golden skull (dimidiated) over the fretty (latticework).
The city, reacted by threatening a lawsuit for "desecration" and "use of the arms without permission". This was completely unviable as Czech law explicitly excludes municipal symbols from any copyright laws, not to mention that the arms themselves weren't touched, it was the flag that was changed. Furthermore, there is the matter of intent as the Pirate Party didn't intentionally attempt to damage the city's reputation nor desecrate the arms and flag. Thus the lawsuit never happened but it did start off an initiative called "Pirating arms" - "Pirátíme znaky" where many local branches of the Czech Pirate Party adapted their respective municipal arms and flags with pirate symbols. It fits in well with the CPP's ideology on copyright. Here's a translated statement from the CPP's vice-president Martin Šmída: "Compared to other scandals, which we've heard of from Prostějov, this is just a humorous mini-scandal. It is all the more surprising that city hall should be spending time on such petty matters. However from the Pirate point of view it is very welcome because it combines combating the absurdities of bureaucracy with the fight for free use and the free remixing of works".
Kryštof Huk, 22 Oct 2016