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Čakovec (Town, Međimurje County, Croatia)

Flag of Čakovec - Image by Željko Heimer, 30 August 2009

Presentation of Čakovec
Flag of Čakovec
Coat of arms of Čakovec
Former symbols of Čakovec (?)
Former flag of Čakovec (Csáktornya)?

See also:

Presentation of Čakovec

Čakovec is the capital of the Međimurje County.

Željko Heimer, 12 August 1996

Flag of Čakovec

The symbols of Čakovec are described by Decision Odluka o grbu Grada Čakovca (text), adopted on 9 July 2009 by the Town Assembly and published on 10 July 2009 in the Town official gazette Službeni glasnik Grada Čakovca, No. 9.
This Decision supersedes the 1993 Decision.

The flag is in proportions 1:2, blue with the coat of arms, bordered white, in the middle.

Željko Heimer, 30 August 2009

Coat of arms of Čakovec

Coat of arms of Čakovec - Image by Željko Heimer, 30 August 2009

The coat of arms is "Azure issuant from base a massoned wall embattled and with a tower argent between two mullets or."
According to Bojničić [bjn99a], the coat of arms of Čakovec is actually the arms of the Ernusth de Csáktornya family, lords of Čakovec since the 15th century. In the 16th century the family, its estates and also its coat of arms was inherited by the Zrinski family, who marshalled the coat of arms in their own. The arms are canting, as the most probable origin of the name Csáktornya is "Csaky's Tower", after Count Dimitry Csaky, high magistrate and Palatine on the Court of King Bela IV in the 14th century.
Ströhl (Städte-Wappen von Ö-U, 1904) [stl04] shows an almost to the line identical drawing of the arms of Čakovec; Laszowski's Coffee Hag album of 1939 [lsv39] shows it slightly different, adding red roofs above the embattllemnts on each side of the tower. It also mentions that the coat of arms is based on a seal dated 1596.

Željko Heimer, 30 August 2009

Former symbols of Čakovec (?)

Former symbols of Čakovec (?) - Images by Željko Heimer, 12 August 1996

The modern symbols of Čakovec were first prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu Grada Čakovca, published in 1993 in the County official gazette Službeni glasnik Međimurske županije, No. 3, and, again, in 1996 in Službeni glasnik Grada Čakovca, No. 3.
Nothing substantial was changed in the 2009 Decision except minor details in the drawing of the coat of arms.

Željko Heimer, 30 August 2009

Former flag of Čakovec (Csáktornya)?

Former flag of Čakovec - Image by António Martins, 28 February 2001

In April 1941, Hungary occupied Čakovec and annexed it in December. In April 1945 it lost it. The Treaty of Paris (1947) reallocated the town to Yugoslavia.

According to Széll (Városaink neve, címere és lobogója [szs41]), the former flag of Čakovec is vertically divided blue-white.
Széll's book shows the flags of several towns formerly held by Hungary. The book is our only source of these flags, but it is not clear as to what period these flags were used as claimed by the book. I doubt very much that they were used during the time of Austria-Hungary. It seems very much more like they were designed in 1941 - but it is not even clear weather the designs shown in Széll's book are just proposals or if they were ever prescribed in any formal way and after all whether they were used. At least for the moment, I believe that the former flag was in use at most in years 1941-1944.

Željko Heimer, 28 February 2001