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Ilirska Bistrica (Municipality, Slovenia)

by Zeljko Heimer

Presentation of the municipality
Description of the flag
Coat of arms

See also:

Presentation of the municipality

The attribute in the name of the municipality comes from the Napoleonic period, when this place was in part of Illirian provinces, to distinguish the place from several other places of the same name throughout the Slavic speaking parts of the empire. After Napoléon's defeat, the name was shortly retained by the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Zeljko Heimer, 18 October 1999

Description of the flag

According to the article Banderas municipales de Eslovenia, published in Banderas [ban] #58 (March 1996), the coat of arms and the flag are prescribed by a decision published in the local official gazette Primorske Novice on 4 October 1975, with effect on18 September 1975.

The flag is light blue, with a white shield-shaped cartouche bearing the coat of arms and the name of municipality in blue letters.

Zeljko Heimer, 18 October 1999

Coat of arms

by Zeljko Heimer

The ship shown on the blue shield of Ilirska Bistrica is a liburna of the Illyrians, an ancient people who settled the area and were famous for their ships still around the time of Marc Anthony. The coat of arms is the same as the coat of arms of the Illyrian Provinces formed in Napoleonic times and shortly afterwards retained in the Hapsburg system as the Kingdom of Illyria. The coat of arms was first adopted as the coat of arms of Ilirska Bistrica in 1872 after a lengthly dispute over it with the imperial office in Vienna. Since it has been used until today in various artistical redentions. In the early 1930s the Italian governor added the word "Grepenna" on a ribbon below the shield.

Zeljko Heimer & Vojko Celigoj, 24 October 2002

Vertical flag

by Zeljko Heimer