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Cres (Town, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia)

Flag of Cres, three versions - Images by Željko Heimer, 19 July 2016

Presentation of Cres
Flag of Cres
Coat of arms of Cres
Ceremonial flag of Cres
Table flag of Cres
"Traditional" flag of Cres

See also:

Presentation of Cres

The Town of Cres (2,9595 inhabitants in 2001, 2,333 inhabitants in the village of Cres) was granted Municipality status in the 1992 administrative reform, upgraded to Town status in 1997, due to historical tradition and its position on an island rather than its number of inhabitants.
Cres is connected with a bridge over a tight channel with the southern island of Lošinj. The two islands were/are often known as one single item named Osor, that is the name of the place where the bridge is.

Željko Heimer, 18 June 2003

Flag of Cres

The symbols of Cres are prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Općine Cres, adopted on 2 January 1995 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 20 January 1995 in the County official gazette Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, No. 1.
Amendment Odluka o izmjeni i dopuni Odluke o grbu i zastavi Općine Cres, adopted on 7 December 1995 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 27 December 1995 in Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, No. 20, corrected the wording of the description. This was consolidated in Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Općine Cres (pročišćeni text), adopted on 7 December 1995 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 27 December 1995 in Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, No. 20.
Decision Odluka o uporabi i zaštiti grba i zastave Grada Cresa, adopted on 5 December 2001 by the Town Assembly and published on 15 December 2001 in Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, No. 32, determines the details of usage (where and when) and introduces the ceremonial flag.
Decision Odluka o izmjenama Odluke o uporabi i zaštiti grba i zastave Grada Cresa, adopted on 20 February 2003 by the Town Assembly and published on 7 March 2003 in Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, No. 5, changes the 2001 Decision regarding the penal fees and removes the requirement that the flag of Cres is to be hoisted permanently on the Tower of Cres, rather to be there occasionally.

The Town Statutes Statut Grada Cresa, adopted on 11 October 2001 by the Town Assembly and published the same day in Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, No. 25, describe the symbols and a preamble text mentioning the traditional flag.
So do the consolidated Statutes Statut Grada Cresa (pročišćeni text), published on 5 October 2007 in Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, No. 37.
The current Statutes Statut Grada Cresa, adopted on 23 July 2009 by the Town Assembly and published on 25 July 2009 in Službene novine Primorsko-goranske županije, No. 29, repeats the 2001 prescriptions.

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

The flag is in proportions 1:2, blue with the coat of arms, bordered yellow, in the middle.
The flags in actual use are made in various shades of blue, from dark blue with a dark blue coat of arms, like the flag hoisted in the Assembly Room (photo, photo), to light blue with a light blue coat of arms, like the flag in another public hall (photo), by the way of very light pale blue with a light blue coat of arms, like the flags vertically hoisted outdoors (photo, photo).
I believe that the dark blue flags are older and were made in the mid-1990s, while the light blue flags are more recent, possibly post-2000 or so. The vertical versions were obviously made by yet another manufacturer.

Željko Heimer & Marko Vitez, 19 July 2016

Coat of arms of Cres

Coat of arms of Cres - Image by Željko Heimer, 18 June 2003

The coat of arms is described in the Town Statutes as "Azure a hippopanther or".
The coat of arms of Cres originates from the 14th century. The modern shield is based on the historical examples preserved mainly as carved in stone in several places in Cres. Quoting Jasmina Ćus-Rukonić (Heraldički Cres):

The heraldic figure of a panther is composed of bodily parts from various animals. The head is horse-like, with long ears, oxen horns and a bent neck like a swan, the forelegs of a gryphon and the tail is crowned, The populace, not knowing of the use of mythical animals in classical heraldry and seeing that the figure in the Cres coat of arms was neither a horse nor a lion, invented its own story to explain this odd figure. They identified it with the attributes of the people of Cres: handsome and gentle as young horses, but when tampered with becoming as dangerous as lions and displaying their claws.

Željko Heimer & Mario Fabretto, 17 August 2003

Ceremonial flag of Cres

Ceremonial flag of Cres - Image by Željko Heimer, 19 July 2016

The ceremonial flag (photo, photo, photo) is a gonfalon adorned with olive branches and a bunch of grapes.

Željko Heimer & Marko Vitez, 19 July 2016

Table flag of Cres

Table flag of Cres - Image by Željko Heimer, 19 July 2016

The table flag (photo) is a simplified version of the ceremonial flag - a triangularly ending flag with the coat of arms, the town's name above in two arches and the olive branches below, grapes omitted.

Željko Heimer & Marko Vitez, 19 July 2016

"Traditional" flag of Cres

"Traditional" flag of Cres, reconstruction - Image by Željko Heimer, 5 October 2008

The Town Statutes includes in the preamble a description of the traditional flag of Cres, that was used by the medieval town and its ships "for at least seven centuries". The flag is described as "striped blue and golden-yellow with the coat of arms in the middle".

Željko Heimer, 18 June 2003