^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Sremska Mitrovica (Municipality, Serbia)

Flag of Sremska Mitrovica - Image by Ivan Sarajčić, 29 November 2007

Flag of Sremska Mitrovica

See also:

Serbia

Flag of Sremska Mitrovica

The flag of Sremska Mitrovica (photo, November 2007) is vertical, white with the emblem of the municipality in the middle.

Ivan Sarajčić, 29 November 2007

The emblem of the municipality shows the inscription Civitas Sancti Demetrii, in Latin, "The City of Saint Demetrius".
Quoting the Oxford Dictionary of Saints, by David Farmer, 1997:

Demetrius of Sirmium (Dmitry of Mitrovica), Serbia, was both soldier and martyr; he suffered in the early IVth century under Maximian. He became immensely popular in the East, where he was called "The Great Martyr", and subsequently in the West. He came to be regarded as a never-failing help in all needs, especially against evil spirits and their results. Leontinus, prefect of Illyricum, built two churches in honour of Demetrius in the early Vth century; one in Sirmium and the other at Thessalonica, where at least some of the relics were enshrined. Here holy oil flowed from them, as from the bones of Nicholas and Walburgs. During the Crusades this saint, like George, was 'adopted' by the western soldiers, especially after the battle of Antioch (1098). Over 200 churches in the Balkan are dedicated to him and he is the patron of Belgrade. Feast in the East 26 October, but in the West 8 October.

Jarig Bakker, 29 November 2007

The emblem of the municipality is vaguely based on the 1880 arms of Mitrovica showing the saint in similar pose. The Serbian Heraldry Society prepared a modern redention of the 1880 arms, as shown on the Heraldry of the World website.
The municipal website (page no longer online) shows the current official emblem, together with two previous versions, the original from the 1880 grant (but the website claims that it was only in 1894 that the town decided to have arms). The current design is said to have been designed by the painter Enes Mundić and adopted on 7 July 1967, and readopted in the same design in 1999 (as published in the official municipal gazette 13/99).

Željko Heimer, 29 November 2007