Have you seen these squares on Zagreb streets? They've appeared all over Croatia, and we know what they mean

Zagreb's streets, usually bustling with the familiar rhythm of urban life, have recently become adorned with a new, intriguing feature: small, colorful squares. As reported by Večernji List, these markers, appearing not just in the capital but throughout Croatia, have prompted widespread curiosity and speculation among citizens. Initial reactions ranged from artistic interpretations, with one Reddit user humorously suggesting someone was "painting the mini coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia but ran out of red," to practical inquiries about their purpose.

However, the mystery has been solved by professionals in the field. These are not mere street art or quirky decorations; they are geolocational points, essential components of a significant national project. A user familiar with the process explained that these squares are part of a Ministry of Construction initiative to map the entire country using drones. After land areas are surveyed and measured, high-resolution drones capture aerial imagery. The colorful squares then serve as vital reference points for the teams processing these images, enabling them to 'overlap' photographs accurately and construct detailed maps.

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You find them all over Croatia, they are related to a project by the ministry of construction where we mapped the entire country with drones. After a part of the land was drawn and measured, we started shooting with DJI Matrice 350 and 450 drones. After shooting, these squares serve the team working on map processing so they can 'overlap' them and make a map more easily.

This initiative, while perhaps visually unobtrusive to the average passerby, represents a sophisticated effort in modernizing national mapping and land management. The squares, acting as control points for aerophotogrammetry, are fundamental to creating precise aerial views, akin to how a single pixel on Google Maps represents a specific point. For Croatian citizens, these markers are a subtle yet tangible sign of technological advancement and a testament to the detailed work involved in creating the digital infrastructure we often take for granted.

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These are control points for aerial photography. For example, when you turn on Google Maps and see an aerial view, one of these squares represents one pixel in the image and is used for overlapping photographs.