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# City of Zagreb (Croatia)

##

Last modified: 2026-07-25 by rob raeside
Keywords: zagreb |
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image by Željko Heimer, 13 November 2002

- Presentation of Zagreb
- Flag of Zagreb
- Coat of arms of Zagreb
- Flag of Zagreb in the 1990s
  - Reported designs
  - Alleged official flag
- Zagreb Holding (Zagrebački Holding)
- Historical flags of Zagreb until 1896
- Historical flags of Zagreb, 1896-1990s
- Zagreb Communities, 1964-1992
- Zagreb Sports Federation
- Yacht clubs
- GNK Dynamo Football Club
- RK Lokomotiva Handball Club
- Educational institutes
  - University of Zagreb (Sveučilište u Zagrebu - Universitas studiorum Zagrebiensis)
  - University of Applied Health Sciences in Zagreb (Zdravsteno veleučilište Zagreb)
  - University Hospital Centre Zagreb (Klinički bolnički centar Zagreb)
  - Aspira University of Applied Sciences (Veleučilište Aspira)
  - Mercury Clinical Hospital (Klinički bolnicka Merkur)
  - Holy Ghost Clinical Hospital (Klinički bolnicka Sceti Duh)
  - Dubrava University Hospital
  - Libertas University (Sveučilište Libertas)
  - VERN' University (Sveučilište VERN)
  - Zagreb University of Applied Sciences (Polytechnicum Zagrabiense)
- Zagreb Fair (Zagrebački velesajam)
- Zagreb Electric Tram (Zagrebački električni tramvaj d.o.o.)
- Zagreb International Airport (Međunarodna zračna luka Zagreb d.d.)

See also:

- Croatia
- Croatia: Local flags
- Zagreb County

External sources:

- Ž. Heimer Grbovi i zastave grada Zagreba (Leykam, 2009) (presentation)
- I. Bilić, I., H. Ivanković Zagrebacki leksikon 2, M-Ž (Leksikografski zavod Miroslav Krleža, Zagreb, 2006)
- E. Laszowski Zastava grada Zagreba, in Prosvjeta (1896)
- R. Horvat Prošlost grada Zagreba (Zagreb, 1942)
- A. Gulin Srednjovjekovni pecati Zagrebackog kaptola, in Starine JAZU, Vol. 58 (Zagreb, 1980)
- J. Borošak-Marijanović Zastave kroz stoljeca, Hrvatski povijesni muzej (Zagreb, 1996) [bor96]
- D. Peić Caldarović Heraldicki Zagreb, Hrvatski povijesni muzej (Zagreb, 2004, online edition)
- P. Čimbur Natjecanje za grb (Školska knjiga, Zagreb, 1985) [cim85]
- N. Premerl Vodić Muzeja grada Zagreba (MGZ, Zagreb, 2002)

## Presentation of Zagreb

The oldest settlemenst in the region of Zagreb predate the Roman era, but they are located mainly along the Sava River. The first settlements on the southern slopes of the Medvednica Mountain were made on the hill of Gradec (also named Grić) with the arrival of Croats in the 7th century.
At least since the 9th century, there are traces of the first settlements on the nearby hill latter known as Kaptol (Chapter). There the Croato-Hungarian King Ladislaus I (Ladislav I) established a diocese in around 1094; in a document from 1134 named Felitian's Charter (Felicijanova povelja), in which the Esztergom (Ostrogon) Bishop Felitian recounts on the first Bishop of Zagreb, Duh. This is also the oldest preserved mention of the name Zagreb.
Beneath Kaptol, south of it, a settlement of foreign (initially Italian) merchants was created in the 12th century under the name Vicus Latinorum (Latin Street, in Croatian, Vlaška ulica, still bearing the same name) under the auspices of the Bishops of Kaptol. The merchant town of Zagreb on the hill of Gradec was granted the privileges of a Royal and Free Town by the Golden Bull issued by the Croato-Hungarian King Bela IV in 1242, for the services rendered in his retreat from the Tatars hordes.
Also on the north side of Kaptol, a settlement was granted the Free Community status in 1344, under the name Nova Ves (New Village), under the diocesan auspices.

These four communities were united in 1850 into the Free and Royal Capital City of Zagreb. It began growing into a modern capital including more and more surrounding villages in the plains towards the Sava River and beyond. The oldest parts of the town built on the hills are today referred to as the Upper Town (Gornji Grad). After the Second World War, the town of Zagreb was administratively divided into communities with several administrative changes over the next years, so in 1964 Zagreb was composed of 14 Communities as basic units of local self-government.
After Croatia gained independence in 1991, the territorial structure of the state was changed in 1993, and the 14 communities were united into a single Capital City with the status of a county. For a short period after 1995 Zagreb got a special status within the Zagreb County, but since 1997 it is again an independant unit with the status of a county. Today, it is divided into 17 town quarters (gradska četvrt).

Željko Heimer, 10 September 2007

## Flag of Zagreb

The symbols of Zagreb are prescribed in the Town Statutes Statut Grada Zagreba, adopted on 14 December 1999 by the Town Assembly and published the same day in the Town official gazette Službeni glasnik Grada Zagreba, No. 19, amended by Statut Grada Zagreba (pročišćeni tekst), adopted on 19 December 2001 by the Town Assembly and published on 24 December 2001 in Službeni glasnik Grada Zagreba, No. 20.
The symbols were approved by the Central State Office for Administration on 4 May 2000 (M. Bejdić personal communication).

The symbols were designed by the Heraldic Art d.o.o. company from Rijeka.

Article 8 of the Statutes prescribes the flag as follows: "The flag, in proportions 1:2, is blue with the coat of arms bordered yellow in the middle."
The legislation require the town flags to have the complete coat of arms, including the shield, so the long tradition of the banner of arms of Zagreb was changed.

Blue is the traditional color of Zagreb (also used for buses, trams, phone booths, etc.)

Željko Heimer, 25 April 2013

## Coat of arms of Zagreb

image by Željko Heimer, 13 November 2002

The coat of arms of Zagreb is described in Article 8 of the aforementioned Statutes as follows: "In a blue field on a green hill a silver town with three towers and opened golden doors, in chief dexter a golden six-pointed star and in chief sinister a silver crescent."
This new, modernized rendition of the coat of arms is based on the 1896 model, itself based on the arms of Grić from the 13th century, picturing a three-towered town with opened doors on a hill, followed by a star and a crescent. As the legislation on the coats of arms require those cities that have historical coat of arms to adopt them in the same form as the historical examples, but only the shield, without any additional elements, the modern coat of arms of Zagreb does not include the crown.

The castle with open doors recalls that Zagreb was declared a Royal Free Market Place, open to merchants and visitors, in 1292 by the Croato-Hungarian King Bela IV, whio hid himself there from the Tatars attacking from east over all his land up to Zagreb. The crescent and star are ancient symbols used on the oldest coat of arms of Croatia. The windows on the castle are of the type used for shooting from them, symbolizing, that though open, it is ready for defence if necessary.

Following the considerable increase in the pay parking zones in Zagreb in summer 2009, a humorous version of the Zagreb coat of arms was circulated around the Internet. Recently it was published also in most of the Zagreb newspapers, for instance Vecernji. The design adds a large letter "P" to the Zagreb town wals and towers design of the coat of arms, with indication "00-24" clearly combining the parking sign with the town coat of arms. As far as I am aware, this particular Zagreb "parking coat of arms" has not been contested by the town authorities yet, and it may be they shall not do anything about it. The town regulations that may be used as arguments against such use are those prohibitng the use where "honour and dignity" are not expressed. On the other hand, there are other provisions expressely allowing the use of the town symbols "in art, education and science".

Željko Heimer, 25 October 2009

## Flag of Zagreb in the 1990s

### Reported designs

images by Željko Heimer, 10 September 2007

In the 1990s, the red-star-defaced flag of Zagreb fell into disuse; however the starless blue flag showing white elements of the coat of arms was continued in use, as abundant as ever, or even more so. As there was not regulation regarding its exact design, the flag was used in several variations, without specified proportions, most often 1:2. Some flag show outlined elements, others white filled elements, some with and some without the shield. A difference in the background colour is also noticable ranging from very dark blue to very light blue. It is much more often to see it with the arms rotated 90 degrees, and hanged verically; sometimes there is no white outline around the shield of arms.
The flag as prescribed by the Statutes of 1999 is used today as a rule only by the institutions of the town administrations. Most of the town companies hoist such variations on their seats as well.

Željko Heimer, 10 September 2007

### Alleged official flag

image by Željko Heimer, 23 September 2007

The Temporary Statutes of the Town of Zagreb Privremeni statut Grada Zagreba, adopted on 15 April 1993 by the Town Assembly and published on 26 April 1993 in Službeni glasnik Grada Zagreb, replaced the symbols prescribed in the 1988 Statutes.
Article 4 determines that the coat of arms "has the shape of a shield colored blue. In the field of the shield is set a city with three towers fortified with walls and city gates. In the chief on the left is a young moon and on the right an eight-pointed [sic] star. The city walls, the towers and the young moon are silver; the eight-pointed star is golden. The hill beneath the tower is green." Further on it is determined that the flag is "colored blue. In the middle on both sides is set the coat of arms of the Town of Zagreb."
This decision was obviously made hastily and contains several inconsistencies. It is not known whether a graphical depiction of this design was ever actually made. The eight-pointed star is certainly unknown in the Zagreb coat of arms - although it was apparently used in the oldest seals of Grić - it seems that it "crept" into the design from the misunderstanding that the old symbols of Grić were also the symbols of Zagreb (as it is indeed far too often found in the literature, equaling the two entities. It is indeed quite usual that when Zagreb before 1850 is now mentioned it is Grić that is meant).

In 1992 the Town of Zagreb donated its allegedly official flag to the collection of the Zagreb Town Museum (Inventory No. 5366), which is now at display in the permanent exhibition, captioned as the current flag of Zagreb. However that flag certainly does not match the 1993 nor any previous determinations - the coat of arms in that flag is a white-only depiction of the 1896 Bojničić's design, together with the shield outline and the crown - the most notable difference being the star that is still, of course, six-pointed and not eight-pointed as prescribed.

Željko Heimer, 10 September 2007

## University of Applied Health Sciences in Zagreb

obverse and reverse - Images by Tomislav Šipek, 7 June 2020

Today's ZVU (website) was established in Zagreb in 1966 by the decision of the Association of Croatian Health Institutions under the name of the Advanced School of Nursing and Health Technicians due to the need for a higher level of education of previously secondary-school educated health professionals.
A good start in its autonomous development was abruptly terminated during the reform of the education system in 1984, which resulted in the merger with the School of Medicine at University of Zagreb due to rationalisation of staff, premises and equipment.

The formal independence of and splitting from the School of Medicine in Zagreb, occurred in 1996 with the establishment of the School of Health Studies in Zagreb after the passing of an Ordinance by the Croatian Government that came into force on 24 May 1996 and its publication in the Official Gazette (no. 41/96).
The Croatian Government adopted the Ordinance on Amendments to the Ordinance on the Establishment of the University of Applied Health Sciences, which entered into force on 25 March 2005 upon its publication in the Official Gazette (no. 39/2005), and after which the School of Health Studies in Zagreb was renamed into the University of Applied Health Sciences.

The University of Applied Health Sciences possesses permanent accreditation for the following study programs:
- Undergraduate professional study programs; Physiotherapy, Laboratory Medical Diagnostics, Radiological Technology, Occupational Therapy, Environmental Health Engineering, Nursing;
- Specialist graduate professional study programs: Management in Nursing, Public Health, Physiotherapy, Environmental Health Engineering, Clinical Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing.

The flag and arms of ZVU are prescribed in Article 7 of the Statutes (text), last revised on 17 June 2014.
The diameter of the coat of arms on the flag is half the flag's width. The coat of arms is white, within golden circle.
[..]
The flag of ZVU is blue with the coat of arms in the center. The ratio of the flag's length to its width is 2:1.

The flag (video) is white (obverse) and blue (reverse) with the institute's logo.

Older flag of the ZVU, obverse and reverse - Images by Tomislav Šipek, 8 June 2020

An older flag of ZVU has the same design but a different logo.

Tomislav Šipek & Ivan Sache, 8 June 2020

## University Hospital Centre Zagreb

images by Tomislav Šipek, 15 May 2026

The flag of Klinički bolnički centar Zagreb or KBC Zagreb (=Clinical Hospital Centre, but is better known internationally under its English name as University Hospital Centre Zagreb), from Zagreb.
https://www.kbc-zagreb.hr/u-kbc-u-zagreb-otvoren-zavod-za-personaliziranu-medicinu.aspx
https://01portal.hr/gradanska-inicijativa-upozorava-kbc-zagreb-potpuno-paraliziran-nakon-nestanka-struje/
http://www.akaz.ba/dogovorena-suradnja-akaz-a-i-kbc-zagreb
KBC Zagreb is the largest hospital institution in the Republic of Croatia and also the largest clinical teaching base of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Zagreb. The hospital was founded in 1942.
Tomislav Šipek, 15 May 2026

## Mercury Clinical Hospital

current and earlier flags; images by Tomislav Šipek, 18 May 2026

Flags of Klinička bolnica Merkur (=Mercury Clinical Hospital) in Zagreb are white or light blue with the logo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DU5-2yVDDjV/?img_index=2
https://www.kb-merkur.hr/merkur-informacije/galerija-slika
The hospital was preceded by Hrvatsko trgovačko društvo Merkur (= Croatian Commercial Company Merkur), founded on 19th January 1873, with the aim, among other things, of working to improve the social and economic position of merchants and private employees, and which was the forerunner of social insurance, which was not yet mandatory at that time.
Hospital work began in 1930 with the opening of the Merkur sanatorium.

Tomislav Šipek, 18 May 2026

## KB Sveti Duh

image by Tomislav Šipek, 18 May 2026

KB Sveti Duh is known as the oldest Croatian hospital, which began operating in 1804 as Zakladna bolnica Milosrdne Braće (= Foundation Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy) and has an uninterrupted tradition. In 1931, the Hospital was moved from its first location (Jelačić Square) to its final location in Sveti Duh (Holy Ghost). It has been known by that name ever since.

Tomislav Šipek, 18 May 2026

## Dubrava University Hospital

image by Tomislav Šipek, 18 May 2026

Klinička bolnica Dubrava (= Clinical Hospital Dubrava) in Zagreb is internationally known by its English name Dubrava University Hospital.
https://www.kbd.hr/novosti/svecana-proslava-dana-klinicke-bolnice-dubrava/
KB Dubrava is a clinical and teaching hospital in the east of Zagreb. Although KB Dubrava was completed and began operating in May 1988, its history is much longer and represents the continuity of the work of the previous Military Hospital, which can be traced back to 1782, when it was first formed from the then garrison hospitals.
The military history of the hospital is also evident in the military green color on the logo and flag, which are taken from the facade of the building, while the oval shapes on the logo are actually the windows of the hospital itself.
https://www.kbd.hr/o-nama/povijest-i-razvoj/

Tomislav Šipek, 18 May 2026

## VERN' University (Sveučilište VERN')

image by Tomislav Šipek, 1 June 2026

VERN' is a private university in Croatia, headquartered in Zagreb. Its flag is a horizontal triband, white-red-white with the name VERN' written in white near the fly on the red stripe.
Source: https://vern.hr/tag/vern-sport/

Tomislav Šipek, 1 June 2026

## Zagreb University of Applied Sciences

image by Tomislav Šipek, 1 June 2026

Zagreb University of Applied Sciences (Polytechnicum Zagrabiense) is the largest polytechnic in Croatia, founded 1998. Its flag is white with a blue disk bearing the letters TVZ off-centered.
https://www.strucnistudiji.hr/hr/novosti/tehnicko-veleuciliste-u-zagrebu-na-stem-games-2025

Tomislav Šipek, 1 June 2026

## Zagreb Holding

horizontal and vertical versions - Images by Tomislav Šipek, 29 June 2020

Zagreb Holding was established in 2006 as 100-percent owned by the Town of Zagreb, in charge of municipal services, water supply and drainage services, pharmacy services, gas distribution and production of energy from renewables, and market services.
The flag of Zagreb Holding, used either horizontally (photo) or vertically (photo) is white with the company's logo.

Tomislav Šipek, 29 June 2020