News Agency: Since 2004, May 2 has been the official Flag Day of the Republic of Poland. On this day we also celebrate World Day of Polonia and Poles Abroad. Did you know that the Polish flag did not always look like this?
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Flag Day – May 2
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Flag Day was established by the Sejm on May 2, 1945, on the anniversary of the placement of the red-and-white flag on the Victory Column – Siegessäule – and on the Reichstag (the German parliament building) by Polish soldiers capturing Berlin, then the capital of the Third Reich.
The Act of January 31, 1980 on the emblem, colors and anthem of the Republic of Poland and on the national seals defines the Flag of Poland as a rectangular piece of cloth with the colors of the Republic of Poland and a proportion of 5:8, placed on a mast. The law says that the colors of the Republic of Poland are white and red, arranged in two horizontal parallel stripes of the same width, the upper one being white and the lower one red. According to Article 6(2) of the Act, a variant with the emblem of Poland placed in the middle of the white stripe is also considered the flag of Poland.
The national flag: respect-obliges-not-only-on-Flag-Day
The results of a sociological survey (conducted in 2008) of Poles’ attitudes toward national symbols are optimistic, as showing respect for national symbols is the most important patriotic attitude for 94 percent of respondents, and 59 percent of those surveyed said they fly the Polish flag on national holidays.
The colors of the flag are a representation of the colors of the national emblem, which is a white eagle on a red field. According to the rules of heraldry, the upper stripe represents the white eagle, and the lower stripe represents the red field of the coat of arms. The color white is used in heraldry to represent silver. It also stands for water, purity and immaculateness. Red, on the other hand, is a symbol of fire and blood, and of the virtues it stands for courage and bravery.
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The emblem of Poland is one of the five oldest in the world
„-We have had the colors of the eagle and the red of the coat of arms since 1295, Poland’s flag is the youngest flag in Europe – in 2019 we celebrated its centennial anniversary, while Poland’s emblem is one of the five oldest in the world.” – says Alfred Znamierowski, a heraldic expert.
The first flags and banners representing the Kingdom of Poland featured a white crowned eagle on a red background. Jan Długosz, describing the preparations for the battle of Grunwald, wrote about
„a great pennant on which was intricately embroidered a white eagle with outstretched wings, beak open and with a crown on its head, as the coat of arms and emblem of the entire Polish Kingdom.”
Not-always-only-white-red
The flag of Poland has not always been white and red. During the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a flag consisting of three horizontal stripes was used: red-white-red.
They bore the four-divided Coat of Arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with a red background containing two fields depicting a white crowned eagle, the symbol of the Crown, and two with an image of the Pahonia, the coat of arms of Lithuania.
Three colors of the Polish flag
There was another color later on. Before the partitions, three colors were considered the national colors: white, crimson and navy blue. This tradition was derived from the colors of the cavalry soldiers’ outfits. The hussars wore crimson-colored overcoats and dark blue żupans, while the armored cavalry wore dark blue overcoats and crimson-colored żupans. The tricolor bows appeared even in the early days of the November Uprising, although officially the white and red colors were recognized as the national colors on May 3, 1792. During the celebration of the first anniversary of the enactment of the May 3 Constitution, ladies appeared in white dresses girded with a red ribbon, and gentlemen wore red and white sashes.
The red-and-white flag was eventually recognized as the national colors – but as late as the January Uprising, a tricolor flag was still in use: white-red-grenade. This was a reversal of the colors of the flag from the November Uprising – this time the navy blue was at the bottom, under the red.
Which Polish flag do you like best? Although the national colors today seem to be fixed once and for all, but the tricolor flags today can be used in a historical context.
Thank you for reading our article to the end. We invite you to read other cultural publications, which you can find here. News Agency.
AI Culture /EST, TO-RT/ act. 30.04.2024
Article Not always red and white. May 2 – Polish Flag Day comes from the Agencja Informacyjna.
