![[Town flag]](../images/h/hr-vu-il.gif)
![[Town flag]](../images/h/hr-vu-il1.gif)
images by Željko Heimer, 8 October 2015
Last modified: 2023-04-22 by rob raeside
Keywords: ilok | újlak |
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images by Željko Heimer, 8 October 2015
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The Town of Ilok (Hungarian, Újlak; 8,351 inhabitants in 2001, 6,004 in the town of Ilok proper), the easternmost town in Croatia, is located on a hill over the Danube, at the point where Danube leaves Croatia towards Vojvodina.
Ilak was fortified by it medieval rulers, the Princes of Ilok (knežovi Iločki, Ujlaky de Illok). In the 15th century, members of this family were Palatines and Kings of Bosnia, later Herzogs of Bosnia, rulers of Syrmia, etc. After the Turkish conquest the importance of the family decreased, and Ilok became the capital of the Syrmian sandjak. After the liberation in the 18th century, Ilok became property of the Odescalchi family, of italian origin, who revamped the famous wine production and built huge wine cellars, still working until today. Among the most famous Odescalchi is Pope Innocent XI (Benedetto Odescalchi), died 1689. His nephew was granted the hereditary title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and Herzog of Sriem.
In the 1990s, Ilok was occupied by Serbs and suffered much. UN organized a transitional government that enabled peaceful reintegration under the Croatian jurisdiction only on 15 January 1998, following the Erdut agreements.
Željko Heimer, 25 July 2004
The flag of Ilok (photo) is described in Article 4 of the Town Statutes Statut Grada Iloka, adopted on 9 October 2001 by the Town Assembly and published on 15 October 2001 in the County official gazette Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 11.
This is repeated in the current Town Statutes Statut Grada Iloka, adopted by the Town Assembly on 30 June 2009 and published on 2 July 2009 in Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 10.
The previous Town Statutes (Temporary Statutes, 1993; 1994) state that the town should have a coat of arms and a flag, without describing the symbols. The Town Statutes Statut Grada Iloka, adopted on 24 May 1999 by the Town Assembly and published on 1 June 1999 in Službeni vjesnik Vukovarsko-srijemske županije, No. 5, adds: "The Town of Ilok, in special occasions, uses a ceremonial flag with the historical coat of arms."
The symbols were designed by the Heraldic Art d.o.o. company, from Rijeka.
The flag is described in the Town Statutes as follows:
The flag is of single colour, red, with a ratio of length to width of 2:1, in accordance with the legal prescriptions. In the centre of the flag, at the crossing point of the diagonals, is placed the coat of arms of the Town of Ilok on both sides of the flag, edged with a golden/yellow outline.
The flag is also used without the yellow border around the coat of arms.
Željko Heimer, Tomislav Šipek & Marko Vitez, 8 October 2015
![[Town coat of arms]](../images/h/hr)vu-il.gif)
image by Željko Heimer, 12 June 2013
The coat of arms is prescribed by Article 4 of Decision adopting the Town's Temporary Statutes Odluka o privremenom ustrojstvu grada Iloka, adopted on 19 April 1993 by the Municipality Assembly and published on 11 October 1993 in Službeni vjesnik Županije Vukovarsko-srijemske , No. 4. The coat of arms is described as:
The Town of Ilok has a historical coat of arms from 1525. The coat of arms of the Town of Ilok is in shape of a ceremonial shield of blue color. In the middle is the town wall with a closed door and with the tower rising from it. The wall and the tower are gray. On both sides are standing two lions facing each other touching the wall and the tower. The lions are brown. Above their heads are white shields horizontally divided into four fields. The entire coat of arms is bordered with a thin ribbon of red, blue, green and brown.
Article 4 of the Town Statutes includes the description, basically the same as the 1525 arms, but without the ornaments outside the shield, following the State regulations.
The coat of arms was described in a new wording in Article 4 of the 2001 Town Statutes. The new artistic representation of the arms was introduced as follows:
Description of the coat of arms of the Town of Ilok: in a heart-shaped shield, in a blue field, on green base, a silver/white two-storied tower with double embattlements, the top tower with a single window, the bottom tower with golden/yellow closed doors, and with eight rectangular loopholes, the tower being held on its sides by two golden/yellow lions in battle stand, and in the chief above the lions two equal silver/white shields.
According to Šalić [sal95], the historical coat of arms from 1525 is found on the Civic Statutes of Ilok from 1525, preserved today in Vienna. The drawing on the Statutes was made by the famous illuminator and miniaturist Julije Klović (Giulio Clovio), one of the important European artists in the 15th-16th centuries. The reproduction of that artwork is indeed often used, as can be seen on the wall of the Town Assembly room (photo).
The coat of arms of Ilok originates from the Middle Ages, and is based on the various coat of arms used by the Iločki family, as reported by Bojničić [bjn99a] and Atlagić [atg85]. Their oldest coat of arms is "Per fess in chief a bar uncolored", preserved on 15th century monuments, and, apparently, used since most often also uncolored. Later on, a quartered coat of arms was introduced, "1. Azure two lions rampant holding together in front paws a crown all or, 2. and 3. Ancient arms, 4. Azure a tower argent on a mount vert". The combination of the 1st and 4th quarters with the escutcheons of the ancient arms is now the coat of arms of the town, "Azure on a base vert a tower argent with closed doors or between two lions rampant of the last and in chief two escutcheon all argent per fess in the chief a bar".
Šalić further mentions that Ilok once used an other coat of arms granted in 1836, "Gules on a base vert a paschal lamb passant argent holding a flag also argent with a cross Latin couped gules". This is not used any more, probably since 1945, and maybe even before. Two other settlements in the vicinity of Ilok had historical coat of arms: Šarengrad, since 1874 ("Azure on a base checky standing St. Peter and St. Paul facing each other and issuant from the chief a bunch of grapes gules slipped proper"), and Babska, since 1854 ("Gules a Virgin with child proper").
Željko Heimer, 16 July 2011
![[Town flag]](../images/h/hr-vu_il.gif)
image by Željko Heimer, 8 October 2015
The table flag is a vertical version of the municipal flag, without the yellow border around the coat of arms.
Željko Heimer & Marko Vitez, 8 October 2015
![[Town flag]](../images/h/hr-vu-il93.gif)
![[Town flag]](../images/h/hr-vu-il93).gif)
images by Željko Heimer,
12 April 2023
The flag used from 1993 to 2000 had a more ornate coat of arms.
Tomislav Šipek, 12 April 2023
