The coat of arms of the

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province, in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. The voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Wrocław, Legnica, Wałbrz ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, features a black eagle with a white (silver)

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

put across its chest and wings, with a white (silver)

cross pattée A cross pattée, cross patty or cross paty, also known as a cross formy or cross formée (french: croix pattée, german: Tatzenkreuz), is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight ...

on its top, placed in a yellow

escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...

(shield). The first version of the coat of arms had been adopted in 2000, and current version, in 2009.

Design

The coat of arms of the

consists of the yellow (golden) Iberian-style

(shield) with square top and rounded base. It features a left-faced black

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

, with a white (silver)

put across its chest and wings, with a white (silver)

on its top, in the centre of bird's chest. The eagle has a white (silver) eye, and raised wings.

History

Background

The design of the coat of arms had been for the first time used by

Henry II the Pious Henry II the Pious ( pl, Henryk II Pobożny; 1196 – 9 April 1241) was Duke of Silesia and High Duke of Poland as well as Duke of South-Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. Between 1238 and 1239 he also served as regent of Sandomierz and ...

, duke of

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

and

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; german: Großpolen, sv, Storpolen, la, Polonia Maior), is a Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed ...

, and the

High Duke of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...

. It was present in his seal, that was used from 1224 to 1240. It depicted an eagle with a crescent put across its wings, with a

on top of it, in its middle, placed on a shield. Such design was inspired by the seal used by

Henry the Bearded Henry the Bearded ( pl, Henryk (Jędrzych) Brodaty, german: Heinrich der Bärtige; c. 1165/70 – 19 March 1238) was a Polish duke from the Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201, Duke of Kraków and High Duke of all Pola ...

, his father.Alfred Znamierowski: ''Insygnia, symbole i herby polskie : kompendium''. Warsaw: Świat Książki, 2003, p. 87. ISBN 83-7311-601-X. Since then, the black eagle with a white (silver)

put across its wings, usually with a white (silver)

on top of it, placed in the yellow (golden)

(shiled), had become the

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

of the

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...

, including being the symbol of the

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule i ...

rulers of the

Duchy of Silesia The Duchy of Silesia ( pl, Księstwo śląskie, german: Herzogtum Schlesien, cs, Slezské knížectví) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Pia ...

, and many of its successors.

Legnica Voivodeship

Prior to establishment of the

, within its current borders, from 1975 to 1998, existed the

Legnica Voivodeship Legnica Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Its capital city was Legnica. Major cities and towns (population in 1995) * Legnic ...

.''Ustawa z dnia 28 maja 1975 r. o dwustopniowym podziale administracyjnym Państwa oraz o zmianie ustawy o radach narodowych.'', In: ''1975 Journal of the Laws'', no. 16, position 91.
''Ustawa z dnia 24 lipca 1998 r. o wprowadzeniu zasadniczego trójstopniowego podziału terytorialnego państwa'', In: ''1998 Journal of the Laws'', no. 96, position 603). Its coat of arms was established in 1997 and used until voivodeship disestablishment on 31 December 1998. It consisted of the wide Norman-style

, with square top and pointed bottom. It was divided vertically into two fields of equal size. The left field had a yellow (golden) background, and featured left half of a black eagle, from the coat of arms of Lower Silesia. It was on the coat of arms used by

Louis II of Brieg Louis II of Brieg; (1380/85 – 30 May 1436), was a Duke of Brzeg (Brieg) from 1399 (until 1400 with his older brother as a co-ruler) and Duke of Legnica from 1413. He was the second son of Henry VII with a Scar, Duke of Brzeg, but the eldes ...

, duke of

Legnica Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda (Kaczawa), Czarna Woda ...

and

Brzeg Brzeg (; Latin: ''Alta Ripa'', German: ''Brieg'', Silesian German: ''Brigg'', , ) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the ...

, respectively from 1399, and 1413, until 1436. The eagle had a left half of a white (silver) crescent on its chest going alongside to the top of its raised left wing, with a left half of the white (silver)

placed on the top of the crescent, in the middle of the bird's chest. The left field featured a chequered pattern of eleven alternating white and red rectangles. The number of the rectangles referred to the eleven cities and towns in the voivodeship.

Lower Silesian Voivodeship

POL województwo dolnośląskie COA 2000 - 2009

The

was established on 1 January 1999. Its first coat of arms had been adopted on 25 February 2000 by the

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Sejmik The Lower Silesian Voivodeship Sejmik ( pl, Sejmik Województwa Dolnośląskiego) is the regional legislature of the Voivodeship of Lower Silesia in Poland. It is a unicameral legislature consisting of thirty-six councillors chosen during local e ...

. It consisted of the yellow (golden) Iberian-style

(shield) with square top and rounded base. It featured a left-faced black

, with a white (silver)

put across its wings, with a white (silver)

on its top, in the centre of bird's chest. The eagle had a white (silver) eye and raised wings. Following the negative opinion of the Heraldic Commission, the voivodeship had modified and simplified the design of the eagle charge featured in the coat of arms, with the new design being approved on 23 July 2009, and officially established on 17 December 2009.Resolution no. XXI/298/08 of the Lower Silesian Regional Assembly from 30 March 2001

References

{{Heraldry in Poland

Lower Silesian Voivodeship

2000 establishments in Poland

2009 establishments in Poland

Design

History

Background

Legnica Voivodeship

Lower Silesian Voivodeship

See also

References