In the Ministry of Defense magazine “Hrvatski vojnik”, nr. 207 of 26 September 2008. an article by Domagoj Vlahović presents the book by Željko Heimer “Grb i zastava Republike Hrvatske”, Leykam International, Zagreb, 2008.
Domagoj VLAHOVIĆ
A New Book by Željko Heimer, Captain in the Croatian Armed Forces and renown vexillologist
The Coat of Arms and the Flag of the Republic of Croatia
Captain Heimer linked vexillology and heraldry and successfully reached his goal: to provide to everyone who produces and uses the coat of arms and the flag of the Republic of Croatia the widest possible background for the quality production and appropriate display of those national symbols…
The Croatian officers Željko Heimer was presented in our magazine already in 2005. Then he was a lieutenant, and then we talked about the exhibition “Norwegian flags”, authored by this vexillologist. To remind you, the vexillology is an auxiliary history science studying flags, and Heimer is among a handful of world renown experts in the discipline. During the interview, Heimer stated, among others: “In our region, the coats of arms are almost as a rule part of flags, or at least, inspiration for the flag design, so it is impossible to study flags separate from the matching coats of arms.”In accordance with that, in his book, “Grb i zastava Republike Hrvatske” Heimerlinked vexillology and heraldry and sucessfully reached his goal: to provide to everyone who produces and uses the coat of arms and the flag of the Republic of Croatia the widest possible background for the quality production and appropriate display of those national symbols. He considered that our Constitution deals with the issue of the coat of arms and the flag rather generally, while the law, while describing them in much details, “is not even remotely unambiguous and clear, so that one may produce an undisputed drawing only based on the text”. Although, the law was published with accompanying drawings, but they were of small dimensions and of poor quality.
For the visual types, we describe the book with following details: the work is well equipped, on 200 pages, with an accompanying CD. But the contents is much more substantial: the Croatian expert analyzed the national symbols to the most minute details. The topic was brought closer to the laymen with a short introduction to heraldry and vexillology, followed by a short historical overview and the actual legislative. Regarding the coat of arms itself, Heimer defined its construction and colouring. The flag is covered in no less then six chapters: its construction, colours, production, equipment, usage and the use at seas. Additionally, there are chapters on the presidential flag and sash and short introduction to the municipal flags and coats of arms. In the appendices, there are excerpts from the most important historical and current legislation and the list of current regulations regarding the coats of arms in Croatia. Not to forget the CD, it contains vectorized drawings of the coat of arms and the flag in various formats and for various printing techniques.
Although this is indeed a professional work, the “Grb i zastava RH” shall certainly be interesting for a wider audience, first of all to those who often use our national symbols. Remember that most of our soldiers display them on their uniforms or headgear, in their offices, barracks and installations… It is highly likely that you may find there numerous variations – Željko Heimer tries to put a dot to it.
That the work of our versatile Cpatian has its weight, it is proved by favorable reviews in professional circles. Dubravka Peić Čaldarović, the heraldry expert from the Croatian History Museum, had only the finest words for the book; she characterized it as “high quality, multidisciplinary and socially and culturally important”. However, the highest compliment Heimer received from the highest Croatian state body. At its ceremonial session of 30 May, on the occasion of the Parliament Day, the book published by Leykam International was officially promoted. The Croatian Captain wrote the first book that was ever officially promoted in the Parliament, and he had the honour to address officially the MPs, together with the book editor, Prof. Dr. Neven Budak.
Translated HGZD from Hrvatski vojnik, br. 207, 26. rujna 2008.