I am the author of the crest and flag village Ochla in town Zielona Góra. I
am historian, heraldry professional and Nowe Miasto district councilor (https://www.naszaochla.zgora.pl)
in Zielona Góra (this is where the town of Ochla is located). In 2020 I have
redesigned the Ochla crest and flag.
What has been changed: - The
shield in the crest of Ochla is divided by two wavy lines into three
sections horizontally (sections' proportions: 2/5 - 1/5 - 2/5). - The
azure wavy section symbolizes a river. It is one of the shield's sections
and not the emblem's element. (If this were an element of an emblem, then
the rule of tincture would not be respected between the river symbol and the
shield's section. If the azure shield's section results from the division of
the shield, then the rule of tincture is respected). - The shield changed
shape to a Spanish type shield, that's what it is currently the dominant and
preferred shield style in Polish local government heraldry. - The
appearance of the knight was changed because in the 2005 version he was in
fact too similar to the knight from the crest of the city of Sulechów. Now
the knight has the clothes and weapons that were used by the knights in
Silesia in the second half of the 13th century, that is exactly when the
town of Ochla was founded. - An eagle on a knight's shield with a
half-moon band with a cross is modeled on the eagle's tombstone of Prince of
Głogów Henry IV the Faithful. He was the son of most likely the first owner
of the village of Ochla, Prince Henry III of Głogów (around 1251/60 - 1309).
image by Jarig Bakker, 4 May 2008
proposed Feb 2005; design: Pawel Szymon Towpik
Here is the proposal (projekt) of the Arms and flag of Ochla (Ochelhermsdorf
till 1945) in Zielona Gora commune (urban), Zielona Gora County, Lubuskie
Voivodship. as presented on this webpage.
The author of the proposal is Pawel Szymon Towpik and he's done his
work in February 2005.
According to him the Arms are roughly as follows:
The heraldic shield is Gothic.
1. The color green stands for the forests surrounding Ochla, sprouting
fields and meadows, and for the inhabitants of the village, as in the heraldic
terms the green represents hope, justice, joy and health, the characteristics
common to all the people in the village.
2.The color blue stands for the River Slaska Ochla (Ochle, in German)
and also for the River Jasiolda in the former Pruzany County (now in Belarus)
from where the majority of the present-day inhabitants of Ochla originated.
Blue, heraldically, is also a symbol of beauty, human goodness and
independence.
3.Three, gold, heraldic stones, representing the three epochs in the
history of the village: pre-historic one, German (from the end of XIIIth
Century to February 14, 1945) and the present one - Polish.
It also symbolizes three most important landmarks of the village: the
XIIIth Century church, the palatial mansion of 1687 and the palace of 1792.
Also the three major cataclysms which had fallen on the village like
stones: the Thirty Years War's events of 1626 and 1631 and the Northern
War of 1706.
The village always managed to rise again after those catastrophes.
4. The knight in the silver armor holding an axe and a shield with
the arms of the Silesian Piasts. This is to represent the legendary first
settler, named Herman and all the other owners of the village, many distinguished
names from the German history, including Count Fritz von Hohenau (Hohenzollern),
the last owner of Ochla who was shot down and died over France in 1918
while serving in the famous Richthoffen's Red Baron squadron.
Also, the brave settlers of 1945 who were repatriated from the Soviet
annexed eastern part of Poland.
The proposed flag is of three equal bands of green, yellow and blue,
where green stands for the forested northern part of the village, yellow
for the agricultural southern part and blue for the River Slaska Ochla
encircling the village from the South.
To differentiate the flag from many similar ones, the white panel is
added at the hoist (white is representing silver armor of the knight from
the Coat of Arms) with the arms in its center.
Note that the knight is identical to the one of Sulechów
commune.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 29 Apr 2008
Ochla village Coat of Arms
image by Jarig Bakker, 4 May 2008
proposed Feb 2005; design: Pawel Szymon Towpik
![[Ochla village flag]](../images/p/pl-lb-oc.gif)
image by Paweł Szymon Towpik, 5 December 2021![[Ochla village flag]](../images/p/pl-lb-oc).gif)
image by Paweł Szymon Towpik, 5 December 2021![[Ochla village flag]](../images/p/pl-lb_oc.gif)
image by Jarig Bakker, 4 May 2008
![[Ochla village Coat of Arms]](../images/p/pl-lb}oc.gif)
image by Jarig Bakker, 4 May 2008
