Flag of Poland

The colours and flags of the Republic of Poland are described in two legal documents: the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997[1] and the Coat of Arms, Colours and Anthem of the Republic of Poland and State Seals Act (Ustawa o godle, barwach i hymnie Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej oraz o pieczęciach państwowych) of 1980 with subsequent amendments[2] (henceforth referred to as "the Coat of Arms Act").

Legislation concerning the national symbols is far from perfect. The Coat of Arms Act has been amended several times and refers extensively to executive ordinances, some of which have never been issued. Moreover, the Act contains errors, omissions and inconsistencies which make the law confusing, open to various interpretations and often not followed in practice.[3]

According to Chapter I, Article 28, paragraph 2 of the Constitution, the national colours of Poland are white and red.[1] The Coat of Arms Act, Article 4, further specifies that the colours are white and red in two horizontal, parallel stripes of equal width, of which the top one is white and the bottom one is red.[2] If the colours are displayed vertically, the white stripe is placed on the left from the onlooker's viewpoint. Attachment no. 2 to the Act shows the national colours in both horizontal and vertical alignment, as well as the official shades of both colours expressed as coordinates in the CIE xyY (CIE 1931) colour space with the tolerated colour differences (ΔE) specified in the CIE 1976 (L*, u*, v*) colour space (CIELUV).[2]

An unofficial construction sheet of the flag with coat of arms, based on specifications in Polish law

The Constitution contains no mention of a national flag. Instead, the flag is defined by the Coat of Arms Act which specifies two variants of the national flag: the national flag of the Republic of Poland (flaga państwowa Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) and the national flag with coat of arms of the Republic of Poland (flaga państwowa z godłem Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej). Both flags are defined in Article 6 of the act as follows:

1. The state flag of the Republic of Poland is a rectangular piece of cloth in the colours of the Republic of Poland hoisted on a flagpole.
2. The state flag of the Republic of Poland is also the flag specified in paragraph 1, with the coat of arms of the Republic of Poland placed in the middle of the white stripe.[2]

The hoist to fly ratio for both flags is 5:8. For the latter flag, the proportion between the inescutcheon of the coat of arms and the hoist is 2:5. Images of both variations of the flag can be found in attachment no. 3 to the Coat of Arms Act.[4]

According to the Coat of Arms Act, everyone can use the Polish flag, especially during national and cultural events, as long as it is done in a respectful manner.[2] This liberty in the use of national colours is a relative novelty. Until 2004, Polish citizens were only allowed to fly the Polish flag on national holidays. The use of both variants was restricted, but only flying the flag with coat of arms was, from 1955 to 1985, punishable by a fine or arrest for up to one year.[3] After 1985, unauthorised use of any national symbol was an infraction. A possible explanation to such harsh measures was the fact that the officially promoted holiday of 1 May was separated by only one day from the pre-war (and current) national holiday of Poland, the anniversary of signing of the Constitution of 3 May 1791. While hoisting a flag on 1 May was acceptable, no later than the following day it had to be taken down.[5]

Flag without the coat of arms

That restriction and kind of state monopoly on the use of national symbols during the Communist regime made flying the Polish flag a symbol of resistance against the government. It became customary, as it still is, for workers to hoist Polish flags on plant buildings when going on strike. That is why the Polish flag, as a symbol of patriotism and resistance against the Communist rule, is part of the Solidarity trade union logo.[6]

The following institutions are required by law to fly the national flag without coat of arms either on top or in front of their official buildings:

• the Sejm (lower house of parliament);
• the Senate (upper house of parliament);
• the President of the Republic;
• the Council of Ministers (cabinet) and the President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister);
• Voivodeship sejmiks (provincial legislatures);
• other state and local government organs.

Additionally, the national flag without coat of arms is used as an ensign for inland navigation.[2]

Flag with the coat of arms

While the ban on using the flag without coat of arms has been lifted, the use of the national flag with coat of arms is still legally restricted and should be flown only:

• on or in front of Polish embassies, consulates and other representative offices and missions abroad, as well as by Polish ambassadors and consuls on their residences and vehicles;
• at civilian airports and heliports (civil air ensign);
• on civilian airplanes – only during international flights;
• on buildings of seaport authorities;
• as a merchant (civil) ensign.[2]

In practice, however, the restriction is often ignored and the two flags, with and without the coat of arms, are treated as interchangeable.[3] The variant with the coat of arms, even though its incorrect usage, is often used by the Polonia, or Polish diaspora outside Poland, especially in the United States.[7]

The Polish, Papal (yellow and white) and Municipal (white and blue) flags in Kraków's Grand Square during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Poland on 27 May 2006

State and local government organs are legally required, and other institutions and organisations as well as all citizens are encouraged to fly the Polish flag on the following days:

• 1 May – State Holiday (May Day, formerly Labor Day);
• 2 May – Polish National Flag Day;
• 3 May – Constitution Day (along with Polish National Flag Day);
• 11 November – Independence Day.[3]

The flag is often popularly flown during important sporting events, such as the FIFA World Cup, if Polish athletes are participating;[8] and during an official visit of a particularly important person, especially a pope, in Poland. During a pope's visit, the national flag is usually flown together with yellow and white Church flags, and white and blue Marian flags.[9] It is uncommon to fly the national flag on personal occasions, such as birthdays or weddings.[3]

According to polls, about one out of three Poles say they own a Polish flag, and about one out of four fly it on national holidays. Such public display of patriotism is much more common in western Poland, especially in Greater Poland, than in other parts of the country.[3]

Stanisław Sobieski, Grand Standard Bearer of the Polish Crown, carrying King Sigismund III's double-swallow-tailed royal banner consisting of red and white stripes emblazoned with a coat of arms combining the heraldic symbols of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and the House of Vasa (c. 1605)

The earliest vexilloids (flag-like objects) used in Poland were known as stanice and probably resembled the Roman vexillum, that is a cloth draped vertically from a horizontal crosspiece attached to a wooden pole or spear. They served as both religious and military symbols as early as 10th century. With Poland's conversion to Christianity in 966, the stanice were probably Christianized by replacing pagan symbols with Christian ones. The royal banner of arms dates back to the reign of King Boleslaus the Generous (r. 1076–1079), but it was during the reign of King Ladislaus the Short (r. 1320–1333) that a red cloth emblazoned with the White Eagle of the arms of Poland was finally established as the Banner of the Kingdom of Poland, a symbol of royal authority used at coronations and in battles.[11]

In the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795), a banner of the Commonwealth was also used, combining the heraldic symbols of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Commonwealth banner was initially plain white emblazoned with the arms of the Commonwealth which consisted of the heraldic charges of Poland (White Eagle) and Lithuania (Pursuer). Since both Polish and Lithuanian coats of arms consisted of white (Argent) charges in a red (Gules) field, these two colours started to be used for the entire banner. During the 17th century, the banner was usually divided into two, three or four horizontal, often swallow-tailed, stripes of red and white.[11][12]

A woman fastening a red-and-white cockade to a Polish insurgent's square-shaped rogatywka cap during the January Uprising of 1863–1864

In the 18th and 19th centuries, European nations used cockades, or knots of coloured ribbons pinned to the hat, to denote the nationality of their military. In Poland, until 1831, there was no consensus as to what the colours of the national cockade should be. Polish soldiers wore white, white-and-red, blue-and-red or blue-white-red cockades.[11]

The custom came to Poland from Saxony during the reign of Augustus II (r. 1697–1733), King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. During that time, the cockade worn by the Polish military had, like in Saxony, the form of a white silk ribbon with a knot in the middle. It was later replaced with a circular white cockade wrinkled toward the center, patterned after the cockade of the Kingdom of France. During the reign of King Stanislaus Augustus (r. 1764–1795), a white-and-red cockade came into use alongside the plain white one. In 1791, the Military Commission introduced a metal cross pattée as a more durable alternative to the cockade. However, many soldiers continued to either pin the cross to the cockade or wear the cockade without the cross. Polish military leaders and national heroes of the time, such as General Tadeusz Kościuszko and Prince Józef Poniatowski pinned plain white "national" cockades to their hats.[11]

National Cockade Act of 7 February 1831

Polish-Lithuanian coat of arms during the November Uprising of 1830–1831

The patriotic and staunchly Catholic members of the Bar Confederation of 1768–1772 adopted crimson – the symbol of Polish szlachta, or nobility – and blue – symbolizing Virgin Mary – as their colours. These, as well as white-and-red, were considered national colours during the Great Sejm of 1788–1792. White and red were first publicly used as national colours by civilians on 3 May 1792 in Warsaw, during a celebration of the first anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of 1791. Meanwhile, the political left wore the blue-white-red cockades of the French Revolution. Polish Legions created in 1797 in French-controlled republics in Italy, used either national cockades of the particular Italian republics in which they served or the French tricolour cockade. In the latter case, the red and blue colours were replaced with crimson and navy blue respectively, hues considered to be traditionally Polish. The General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland, which sought to revive the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the French invasion of Russia in 1812, adopted red-and-blue cockades, symbolizing the unity of Poland (red) and Lithuania (blue).[12] The military of the French-controlled Duchy of Warsaw (1807–1815) and the Russian-controlled Congress Kingdom of Poland (1815–1831) used the white cockade, which was also worn by the cadets who started the November Uprising against Russian rule on 29 November 1830.[11]

During the uprising, the Sejm realized the need for unified national insignia that could be used by the Polish military. On 7 February 1831 it adopted white and red, the tinctures (colours) of the Polish and Lithuanian coats of arms, as the national cockade of Poland. The white-and-red cockade was henceforth worn by Polish soldiers in the November Uprising, as well as by participants of the Kraków Uprising of 1846, Polish freedom fighters in the Grand Duchy of Posen and the Austrian Empire during the Spring of Nations of 1848, and Polish insurgents during the January Uprising of 1863–1864. White and red colours were also used by civilians to show their protest against the Russian rule, as well as by people in France, Britain, Germany, Belgium and other countries as a sign of their sympathy with the Polish cause. The Sejm's decision was not, however, immediately accepted by all. Left-wing politicians of the time, such as Joachim Lelewel, continued to regard the revolutionary blue, white and red as true national colours. Tricolour standards were used by some Polish guerrilla units during the January Uprising.[11]

The flag of Poland in 1937

The civil ensign of Poland in 1938

The flag of Poland in 1939

White-and-red flags were first waved during a patriotic demonstration on 3 May 1916 in Warsaw. The organizing committee advised participants about the correct alignment of the colours, that is with the white stripe above the red one. Still, many demonstrators brought flags with the red stripe on top. On 1 August 1919, almost a year after Poland regained independence in November 1918, the Sejm officially introduced a white-and-red bicolour as the Polish national flag. In order to avoid confusion with the white-and-red maritime signal flag used internationally by harbor pilots and tugboats, the same act of Sejm introduced a variant of the flag with the coat of arms in the white stripe for use as a civil ensign and by Polish diplomats and consuls abroad.[11]

A white-and-red brassard worn by a Polish insurgent during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The acronym WP stands for Wojsko Polskie or Polish Armed Forces.

Apart from changes in the legal specifications of the shades of the national colours (see the section below), the basic design of the Polish flag, including the 5:8 ratio, has remained unchanged to this day. The flag with coat of arms was only modified to adjust to the changes in the coat of arms itself. Major modifications included a change in the stylisation of the eagle from Classicist to Baroque in 1927 and the removal of the crown from the eagle's head during the Communist rule from 1944 to 1990.[12][13] In that period, Poland was one of the few socialist states in the Eastern Bloc (apart from the flag of Cuba) not to adorn communist symbolism on its flag.

A frayed Polish flag during the final days of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944

Polish flag in Berlin on 2 May 1945

20th-century Polish insurgents wore white-and-red brassards (armbands) which played a role similar to the cockade of previous centuries. Such armbands were worn by Polish freedom fighters during the Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919) and Silesian Uprisings (1919–1921), as well as during the Second World War (1939–1945) by the soldiers of the Home Army (AK) and Peasants' Battalions (BCh) – usually emblazoned with the acronyms of their formations.[11] During the Second World War, Polish soldiers raised the Polish flag on several sites of their victories. On 18 May 1944, after an Allied victory over the German forces in the Battle of Monte Cassino, a patrol of the 12th Podolian Uhlan Regiment (part of the Polish 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division) raised a Polish flag on ruins of the Monte Cassino abbey in Italy. On 1 August 1944, the first day of the Warsaw Uprising, a white-and-red flag was hoisted on the Prudential building, Warsaw's tallest skyscraper of the time. During the liberation of Warsaw by Soviet forces and Polish People's Army on 17 January 1945, Polish flags were raised on the Belvedere palace and ruins of the Main Railway Station. On 2 May 1945, after the capture of Berlin, soldiers of the 7th Battery, 3rd Division, 1st Light Artillery Regiment planted Polish flags on the Berlin Victory Column.[11]

Polish flags were also used by anti-government demonstrators under the Communist rule. During the bloody riots of 1956 in Poznań and 1970 in Gdynia, protesters carried flags that were blood-stained on the white stripe.[11]

Flag of Poland (1919–1927)

Flag of Poland (1927–1980)

Flag of Poland (1980–present)

Historical flags

Until 1927, the exact shades of the national colours were not legally specified. In practice, the actual hue, particularly of red, depended on what kind of red dye was available. In pre-partition Poland, crimson, due to its high price, was a colour associated with the rich and the privileged. It could be obtained from the domestically harvested Polish cochineal, although imported alternatives were also available: kermes from the Mediterranean Basin (hence karmazyn, the Polish name of the colour) and Mexican cochineal after the discovery of the New World. Crimson was reserved for the nobility and considered a symbol of the aristocracy, so that karmazyn became synonymous with a magnate. A royal ban on wearing this colour could be a form of punishment; in the 14th century, the Nałęcz clan of Greater Poland were forbidden to dress in crimson for their ancestors' complicity in the assassination of King Premislaus in 1296.[11] In the first half of the 19th century, due to the influence of French fashion, crimson was largely replaced with the cheaper amaranth.[12]

The National Cockade Act of 1831 did not specify the shade of red, for which it was criticised by Joachim Lelewel,[11] nor did the Coat of Arms and National Colours Act of 1919. In 1921, the Ministry of Military Affairs issued a pamphlet with illustrations of the Polish flag and other national symbols which used the crimson shade of red.[14] The pamphlet was not, however, an official source of law and was published for informative purpose only. The shade of red was first legally specified by a presidential decree of 13 December 1927 which stipulated that the official shade was vermilion. This specification was upheld by a decree of 7 December 1955.[11] The Coat of Arms Act of 31 January 1980[2] replaced the verbal prescription with trichromatic coordinates in the CIE colour space as proposed by Nikodem Sobczak, an expert in colorimetry,[15] bringing the resulting hue closer to crimson again.

• Russocki Stanisław; Kuczyński Stefan; Willaume Juliusz (1970). Godło, barwy i hymn Rzeczypospolitej. Zarys dziejów [Arms, Colors, and Anthem of the Republic. A Historical Sketch] (in Polish). Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna.
• Znamierowski, Alfred (1995). Stworzony do chwały [Created for Glory] (in Polish). Warsaw: Editions Spotkania. ISBN 83-7115-055-5.

Law

• Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 2 kwietnia 1997 r. [Constitution of the Republic of Poland], Dz. U. z 1997 r. Nr 78, poz. 483 (1997-04-02)
• Ustawa z dnia 6 czerwca 1997 r. – Kodeks karny [Penal Code], Dz. U. z 1997 r. Nr 88, poz. 553 (1997-06-06)
• Ustawa z dnia 18 stycznia 1951 r. o dniach wolnych od pracy [Non-Working Days Act], Dz. U. z 1951 r. Nr 4, poz. 28 (1951-01-18)
• Ustawa z dnia 31 stycznia 1980 r. o godle, barwach i hymnie Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej oraz o pieczęciach państwowych [Arms, Colors, and Anthem of the Republic of Poland, and State Seals Act], Dz. U. z 1980 r. Nr 7, poz. 18 (1980-01-31)
• Ustawa z dnia 6 kwietnia 1990 r. o przywróceniu Święta Narodowego Trzeciego Maja [Reestablishment of the National Day of the Third of May Act], Dz. U. z 1990 r. Nr 28, poz. 160 (1990-04-06)
• Ustawa z dnia 9 lutego 1990 r. o zmianie przepisów o godle, barwach i hymnie Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej [Amendment to the Arms, Colors, and Anthem of the Republic of Poland Act], Dz. U. z 1990 r. Nr 10, poz. 60 (1990-02-09)
• Ustawa z dnia 19 lutego 1993 r. o znakach Sił Zbrojnych Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej [Insignia of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland Act], Dz. U. z 1993 r. Nr 34, poz. 154 (1993-02-19)

• "Informacja o wynikach kontroli używania symboli państwowych przez organy administracji publicznej" (PDF) (in Polish). Warsaw: Supreme Chamber of Control (Najwyższa Izba Kontroli). 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• (in Polish and French) Łoza, Stanisław; Czaykowski, Zygmunt (1921). Godło i barwy Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej – Armoiries et couleurs de la République polonaise. Warsaw: Ministry of Military Affairs. p. 10.
• (in Polish) Projekt ustawy o zmianie ustawy o godle, barwach i hymnie Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Druk 2149, Warsaw, 15 October 2003

• Bajtlik, Stanisław (1 May 2008). "Szyjemy flagę narodową". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Agora. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
• Magiera, Marek (9 June 2006). "Zaczyna się mundial..." Życie Częstochowskie (in Polish). Beta Press S.C. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
• Molak, Wiesław; Sakiewicz, Tomasz (2 May 2007). "Bogdan Borusewicz gościem w "Sygnałach dnia"". Interview with Bogdan Borusewicz in Program 1 Polskiego Radia (in Polish). Law and Justice. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
• Niezabitowska, Małgorzata (January 1988). "Discovering America". National Geographic.

• "Flaga". Official website of the President of the Republic of Poland (in Polish). Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2007.
• Flags of the World – subpages:
  • "Bohemia (Czech Republic)". Retrieved 2 November 2007.
  • "Colors of Flags". Retrieved 4 November 2007.
  • "Grand Duchy of Posen 1815–1849, Posen Province 1849–1920 (Prussia, Germany)". Retrieved 2 November 2007.
  • "Polish Religious flags". Retrieved 2 February 2008.
• Kromer, Adam. "Flagi województw polskich". Polskie flagi, chorągwie, bandery... (in Polish). Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
• "Protokół flagowy – Jak postępować z flagami" (in Polish). Instytut Heraldyczno-Weksylologiczny. 11 July 2005. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2007.
• Sarajčić, Ivan. "Flag Identifier". Retrieved 3 February 2008.