Last modified: 2005-07-09 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Piran]](../images/s/si-090.gif)
by Željko Heimer
See also:
Pirano is the name of Piran in Italian, the second official language of the municipality.
Željko Heimer, 24 January 2000
The flag and coat of arms of Piran are prescribed in the municipal statutes, available on the municipal website.
The flag is rectangular, in ratio 1:2, horizontally divided red-blue with the coat of arms set near the hoist in the middle of the red stripe. On photographies of this flag taken by Doug Julien in August 2002, the coat of arms is much closer to the hoist than officially prescribed.
Željko Heimer, 19 September 2002
![[Coat of arms of Piran]](../images/s/si)090.gif)
by Željko Heimer
The municipality of Piran has been using a shield with a cross as its coat
of arms since the Middle Ages, as can be seen from stonecarved coats
of arms in several places in Piran. The modern representation shows
the blue shield with a white fimbriated red cross, the cross being
"embowed", i.e., made of two curved bars. The coat of arms is
sometimes seen with a ribbon encircling it all around except the
bottom, which is crowned with a "civic" crown. However, it is in wide
use in the municipality, as can be seen on road signs in Piran, and
several websites.
In the description of the coat of arms in the aforementioned
statutes, the white ornament around the shield is not mentioned.
The coat of arms was designed by Sabina Dežan, a visual communication designer from Ljubljana.
I believe that the curved crossbars are result of a misinterpretation of the oval shapes shields often used in Italian heraldry, which were often pictured as "convex" and three-dimensional, and therefore the cross drawing on such shield would appear to have curved bars due to perspective. "Flattening" of such a picture in modern time would result in a "classic" triangular shield with an oddly embowed cross.
Željko Heimer, 14 September 2003
![[Vertical flag of Piran]](../images/s/si-090v.gif)
by Željko Heimer
On photographies of this flag taken by Doug Julien in August 2002, the vertical flag hoisted on the main square of Piran is much longer then 1:2.
Željko Heimer, 19 September 2002