The Macedonian municipal heraldry abounds with Coats of Arms that do not meet even the basic heraldic rules and principles and by their characteristics are in fact logos.

In the study “Municipal Heraldry in the Republic of Macedonia”, published in the “Macedonian Herald” issue Nº6, Jovan Jonovski analyses and classifies all of the 83 Coats of Arms of the local government units in the Republic of Macedonia. According to that classification, in the last category – the category of non-heraldic Coats of Arms, which can not be made heraldic, there is the sub-category of logos. In this group there are the Arms/logos of the following municipalities: Berovo, Valandovo, Kavadarci, Lipkovo, Saraj, Chair, Chucher-Sandevo and Brvenica. This article will analyze three of them, the logos of Valandovo, Kavadarci and Chair.

Before we start analyzing the logos of these municipalities, in lack of official data, such as dates of adoption, official description of the elements on the logo and the logo as a whole, the name of the author etc. a more serious analysis of the logos is not possible and it comes down to the personal research and interpretation of the symbols. These data were requested from the municipalities, but until the closing of this issue of “Macedonian Herald” they were not delivered.

Municipality of Chair
The logo of the Municipality of Chair is at the throne of non-heraldic Coats of Arms in the Republic of Macedonia. This is the only logo in true sense that is used as a Coat of Arms of a municipality. The logo consists of a golden square with rounded sides, with a very linear stylized silver motif of the Skopje Old Bazaar placed on the square.

The logo was adopted by the municipal council in 2010, as a result of several failed attempts to adopt a Coat of Arms that will be acceptable to all ethnic groups living in the municipality.

In this logo, the white color, which is considered silver in heraldry is placed on top of the yellow color, which is considered golden in heraldry, and so one of the basic rules of heraldry is broken, the rule that those two colors/metals must not be placed over one another. Furthermore, the use of this combination of colors is a problem when printing the logo in black and white, due to the very low contrast of the colors.

The logo is the main motif on the flag of the municipality too.

Municipality of Kavadarci 
The logo of the Municipality of Kavadarci is in the recognizable “socialist landscape style”, in which much of the Coats of Arms in the Republic of Macedonia are made. On the logo there are grape and tobacco leaf in the foreground, as prevalent crops in the municipality, a factory chimney which should symbolize the factory “Feni”, and in the background the plateau Vitachevo is probably presented. All that is placed on a graphic symbol that should represent a poppy capsule.

Unlike the logo, however, the municipality has a vexillologically and graphically good flag. Thus, one possible solution for a Coat of Arms of the municipality is a Coat of Arms derived from the flag, which will meet all heraldic standards and will be in accordance with the Municipal Heraldic System of the Macedonian Heraldry Society. The blazon of this Coat of Arms would be: Per Pale Argent and Gules, 6 tourteaux (3,2,1) counterchanged, Or.

Municipality of Valandovo 
On the logo of the Municipality of Valandovo, a memorial fountain located in the center of Valandovo is presented. Behind it a mountain is presented, probably the Plavush mountain, which encloses the entire north of Valandovo. All that is placed on a graphic symbol with freely determined design of the upper half, while the bottom half should represent pomegranate, as a prevalent crop in the municipality. At the bottom of the logo there is a scroll inscribed with the name of the municipality.

From what can be seen on the few available photos of the memorial fountain, especially from the presence of a five pointed star and the Coat of Arms of Yugoslavia on it, we can conclude that it is a monument to the Second World War. So, having that in mind, as well as the presence of a scroll with the name of the municipality, we can freely say that this logo is in the “socialist” style too.

What is common to almost all logos is the very low graphic quality. The only versions in which these logos are available have very poor quality, and are probably obtained by scanning old documents and processing them at very low graphic standards. These logos are even used in official documents and publications of the municipalities.

The Macedonian Heraldry Society is actively working on improving the quality and standardization of the municipal heraldry in the Republic of Macedonia. We would again appeal to all municipalities to consult the Society and seek help in composing the competitions, and especially when choosing the Coat of Arms of the municipality.

This article was published in “Macedonian Herald” No 8.