Poland Flag

The national flag of Poland is made of two bands, arranged horizontally. The bands are of equal width. The upper stripe is white in color while the lower stripe color is red. There is a variant national flag in the country that has a coat of arms on the white stripe. It is used for official purposes abroad and at the sea. The coat of arms is a white eagle with a golden beak and talons on a red shield. The hoist to fly ratio of both flags is 5:8. For the second flag, the escutcheon of the coat of arms and the hoist is 2:5. The national flag of Poland was officially adopted in 1919.

The white and red colors were adopted in 1818. The colors represent the national colors of Poland. The colors were inspired by heraldic colors and borrow a lot from the colors of the coat of arms. The white color is said to represent peace. The red colors are symbolic references to the socialism days.

The red and white insignia were first adopted in February 1831 by the Sejm and were used during the uprising against the Russians. The red and white flags were first used in 1916 during a patriotic demonstration. The flag was recommended by the demonstration’s organizing committee. The white eagle symbol was created by Lech, the founder of Poland. It is said he once saw a white eagles nest with a ray of sunshine falling on its wing. So it appeared like it was tipped with gold, he liked it and settled on it as his emblem.

The first symbolic flag used in Poland in the 10th century was a cloth draped vertically from a horizontal crosspiece attached to a wooden spear. From 1320-1333, a flag with a red color and white eagle on the coat of arms of Poland was established as a banner of the kingdom. In the 17th century, the banner was divided into two, three, or four horizontal bands, often swallow-tailed stripes red and white. On February 7, 1831, Poland adopted white and red as the national colors. The red and white flag was officially adopted on August 1, 1919.