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Ravna Gora (The Coast-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia)

Last modified: 2003-08-16 by dov gutterman
Keywords: ravna gora | croatia | primorsko-goranska |
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by Zeljko Heimer,13 August 2003



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Overview

Ravna Gora is a community some 50 km east of Rijeka on Rijeka-Zagreb road, approximately half way between Delnice and Vrbovsko. The community has about 3000 inhabitants today, just about 2000 of them living in the main town with the same name. "Ravna Gora" mean something like flat topped mountain or hill, and it is a very frequent name in the wider region. There is a mountain NW of Požega named "Ravna gora" (note the capitalization), there are at least two more mountains in BiH fo the same name, but maybe the world-wide is best known Ravna gora on border between Serbia and Montenegro where the core of the Chetnik movement was formed.
The town was granted royal privileged trading place rights in 1785 by Emperor Joseph II. The coat of arms was granted at the same time: Azure a village argent roofed gules beneath a rocky mountain argent issuant from a base vert on which is a bar or and in chief dexter a sun or and in sinister a cerscent argent. The style of the coat of arms was similar to others ganted in the period, with coat of arms in a cartouche surrounded with a white ring to form a seal all within a baroque alegorical sceene.
The modernization was made in mid-1990's, judging by the style no doubt by the Rijeka company Heraldic-art (like all of the coat of arms in the County, I believe).
The coat of arms and the flag decision is adopted in 1995, but was published in the official gazette only in 1999 (possibly they were waiting for the approval by the Ministry?): Odluka o grbu i zastavi Opcine Ravna Gora, 20.06.1995, Službene novine Primosko-goranske županije, br. 26/99, 10.12.1999.
The Coat of Arms is described there as: on green ground a city with a belfry and red roofs infront of which is extending a golden-yellow road. Behind the city there are three silver-white clif hills, the middle one being higher then the other two. To the right is a golden-yellow sun and to the left silver-white crescent in a blue sky. The decision determines two type of the coat of arms to be used - the "normal" one being in so called Croatian shield and the ceremonial verison is so called Hungarian shield. Unfortunatley, no image is given in the official gazette, but  presume that the "Croatian shield" is the simple one (as posted) while the "Hungarian shield" is a "baroque" one as used in the 1785 grant of arms (yet simplified, no doubt).
I should mention that Oštric book that was my source until I got the gazette is errorneous in showing the "road" (a fess in base) as silver, but it should be golden. Some visitors to my web site already informed me that the golden road is used in practice.
The flag is light blue with the coat of arms in the middle. Ratio:1:2. The ceremonial flag is also described, differing only in the fact that is use the ceremonial coat of arms in the centre. (there is no hint to say that the ceremonial flag is a gonfalon or something like that, but then again, I would not exculde that possibility entirely).
Zeljko Heimer,13 August 2003


Coat of Arms


by Zeljko Heimer,13 August 2003