A summary of Semily

The first written records of Semily come from 1352 but since they are related to the parish church, we may well presume that Semily had existed already some time before that year.

Semily used to be the seat of the nobles who built a fortress there, which lately became a chateau. Property relations were settled only after 1542 when Semily became the possession of the Smiřický clan; afterwards it was passed on to the administration of Albrchecht of Vladštejn, and after his death the town was held by foreign noble clans. The chateau, the brewerery, forests and other lands were redeemed by the town Semily from the French noble clan of Rohans in 1899. Bodies of the Civil Service were established in 1850 and vassals became freemen. A district office was established in Semily, which lately became district authorities. Semily was a district town until 2002, when the district authorities were dissolved, and Semily became a certified community of the 3rd level with 21 subregions.

The name Semily was settled only in the half of the 19th century, and at that time Semily also became a town. We can find names such as Semil, Semill, Semile or Semille in elder documents and maps. We can only guess from what the name was derived – according to linguists, it should represent the settlements of “semils”, i. e. nice people or people who are liked. That would flatter us, wouldn’t it? The city symbol is formed by a blue shield with a deer, a lime tree, a lawn and six golden hexagrams in an arch.

The city flag was approved by the Czech National Council in 1992; its colour lay-out stems from the city symbol colours. The flag is formed by two stripes, a blue and a green one, which are separated by six golden hexagrams.

Remark - The text was overtaken from “A Brief Summary of Semily”, a publication compiled by Václav Votoček for educational purposes.