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Otok (Town, Vukovar-Srijem County, Croatia)

Flag of Otok - Image by Željko Heimer, 10 October 2009

Presentation of Otok
Flag of Otok
Coat of arms of Otok

See also:

Presentation of Otok

The Town (stauts granted on 13 July 2006) of Otok (7,755 inhabitants in 2001) is located 30 km south of Vukovar.

Željko Heimer, 29 July 2004

Flag of Otok

The symbols of Otok are prescribed by Decision Odluka o grbu i zastavi Općine Otok, adopted on 13 August 1999 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 8 October 1999 in the County official gazette Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 8.
The Decision was amended as Odluka o izmjeni Odluke o grbu i zastavi Općine Otok, adopted on 30 June 2000 by the Municipality Assembly and published the same day in Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 4. The amendment changed the wording of the description of the coat of arms, probably after consultation of the central authorities.

The symbols are described in the Municipality Statutes Statut Općine Otok, adopted on 13 December 2002 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 23 December 2002 in Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 13. This is repeated in the current Town Statutes Statut Grada Otok, adopted on 21 September 2009 by the Town Assembly and published on 24 September 2009 in Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 14 (text).

The Municipality Magistrate appointed a commission to organize a public contest, reported in article Utvrđena visina zakupnine, published on 8 October 1993 in Vinkovački list (scan).
Decision Odluka o pokretanju postupka za utvrđivanje grba i zastave Općine Otok, adopted on 15 October 1996 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 23 October 1996 in Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 7., prescribed the organization of a public contest and inquiry at the State Archives for historical background.
A three-member commission was set up by Rješenje o izboru Odbora za grb i zastavu, adopted on 24 June 1997 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 28 July 1997 in Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 4. Prizes were set to 7000, 2500 and 1000 kuna, but the contenders were to pay a registration fee of 100 kuna.
According to Zaključak (o usvajanju Izvješća Odbora za grb i zastavu općine Otok), adopted on 12 December 1997 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 22 December 1997 in Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 11, the commission gave on 4 November 1997 a report to the Municipality Assembly, which adopted it. Based on the reports, the awards were granted to the most sucessful designs. The first prize (7,000 HRK, ca. 1,000 EUR) was granted to Branko Vujanović from Zagreb, an artist who illustrates children books. The second prize (2,500 HRK, ca. 330 EUR) went to Mladen Stojić, from Heraldic art d.o.o., Rijeka. The third prizes, (1,000 HRK each) went to Perica Beuk, Vinkovci, and Srećko Sulić, Vinkovci. The two first prizes were selected as bases for the production of the coat of arms; the designers were invited to cooperate in the redesign to be coordinated with the central authorities and the Municipality, to include in the design the suvara (mill house), St. Anthony and Glagolitic letters.

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

Željko Heimer, 12 August 2012

Coat of arms of Otok

Coat of arms of Otok - Image by Željko Heimer, 10 October 2009

The coat of arms is described as follows:

The shield is horizontally divided. The top field is golden/yellow, and the bottom green. In the centre is the symbol of Otok and its historical characteristic, the horse-powered mill called suvara, colored brown and red.

The oldest preserved mills in Otok are from the early 19th century (municipal website).

According to the article Natječaj za idejno rješenje grba mjesta Otok, published on 17 October 1975 in Novosti, the Local Community (municipal subdivision) of Otok organized a public contest for the design of the coat of arms of the place of Otok, providing that the elements that should be included are a suvara, Slavonian words, and emphasized place "Otok". The deadline was set in a month and the first prize to 1,000 dinars for the best design (for the sake of comparison, the prize of the newspapers was 2 dinars).
There is no further mention of the competition in subsequent newspapers and if any design was aodpted. When the modern municipality looked for aa ocat of arms in the 1990s, the idea with the suvara was resurrected (provided anyone remembered it). As far as I am aware, no reference to some previous symbols of Otok was made while the coat of arms was being adopted.

Željko Heimer, 12 August 2012