HOS Mural Sparks Heated Debate Among Zagreb Residents

Painting over the HOS insignia on a Zagreb mural was enough to ignite a debate involving hundreds of Reddit users. The mural, located in an underpass on Slavonska Avenue, honors Croatian military units that fought in the Homeland War.

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Thank them for everything, we are free people.

It carries the words “Thank them for everything, we are free people,” a line from Marko Perković Thompson’s song “Warriors of Light.” Symbols of several guards brigades appear alongside the text. The HOS emblem was painted over, splitting commenters between those who saw the act as vandalism and those who objected specifically to the emblem.

The argument soon expanded beyond the mural. Some users defended the insignia of the guards brigades while questioning why war symbols should remain in the city. One commenter said patriotism and Croatian history could be represented in many other ways, adding that everything has its time and place.

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Putting the HOS emblem aside, why do the guards brigade emblems bother you?

The sharpest exchanges focused on HOS and whether symbols from the Homeland War should be equated with those from the Second World War. One commenter compared the issue with the star associated with Ratko Mladić and the Yugoslav red star. Others debated the Yugoslav People’s Army and argued that its symbol should be understood in its historical context.

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Why do we have to have war symbols around the city?

Some participants questioned why HOS receives so much attention compared with other wartime units, pointing to Zagreb’s Tigrovi and First Brigade. Others said the broader problem was the continued use of wartime imagery three decades after the war, especially when it produces new ideological arguments. The discussion also included jokes about repeatedly painting over and restoring the emblem. The views expressed by Reddit users do not represent the publication’s position.

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Everything has its time and place.