Coat of arms of Poland (1955-1980).svg

The coat of arms of Poland is a white, crowned eagle with a golden beak and talons, on a red background.

In Poland, the coat of arms as a whole is referred to as ''godło'' both in official documents and colloquial speech, despite the fact that other coats of arms are usually called a ''herb'' (e.g. the Nałęcz ''herb'' or the coat of arms of Finland). This stems from the fact that in Polish heraldry, the word ''godło'' (plural: ''godła'') means only a heraldic charge (in this particular case a white crowned eagle) and not an entire coat of arms, but it is also an archaic word for a national symbol of any sort. In later legislation only the ''herb'' retained this designation; it is unknown why.

Legal basis

The coat of arms of the Republic of Poland is described in two legal documents: the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej

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/nowiki>Coat of Arms, Colors and Anthem of the Republic of Poland, and State Seals Act/nowiki>, Dz.U. 1980 nr 7 poz. 18 (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.

Design

According to Chapter I, Article 28, paragraph 1 of the Constitution, the coat of arms of Poland is an image of a crowned white eagle in a red field. The Coat of Arms Act, Article 4, further specifies that the crown, as well as the eagle's beak and talons, are golden. The eagle's wings are outstretched and its head is turned to its right. In English heraldic terminology, the arms are blazoned as '' Gules an eagle crowned, beaked and armed Or''. In contrast to classic heraldry, where the same blazon may be rendered into varying designs, the Coat of Arms Act allows only one official rendering of the national coat of arms. The official design may be found in attachment no. 1 to the Coat of Arms Act.

The nearly circular charge, ''i.e.'', the image of the white eagle, is highly stylized. The heraldic bird is depicted with its wings and legs outstretched, its head turned to the right, in a pose known in heraldry as 'displayed'. The eagle's plumage, as well as its tongue and leg scales are white with gradient shading suggestive of a bas-relief. Each wing is adorned with a curved band extending from the bird's torso to the upper edge of the wing, terminating in a heraldic cinquefoil (a stylized five-leafed plant). Three of its leaves are embossed like a trefoil (note similar trefoils in the medieval designs of the eagle). In heraldic terms, the eagle is "armed", that is to say, its beak and talons are rendered in gold, in contrast to the body. The crown on the eagle's head consists of a base and three fleurons extending from it. The base is adorned with three roughly rectangular gemstones. The fleuronsof which the two outer ones are only partly visiblehave the shape of a fleur-de-lis. The entire crown, including the gems, as well as spaces between the fleurons, is rendered in gold.

The charge is placed in an Escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (shield) of the Modern French type. It is a nearly rectangular upright isosceles trapezoid, rounded at the bottom, whose upper base is slightly longer than the lower one, from the middle of which extends downwards a pointed tip. Although the shield is an integral part of the coat of arms, Polish law stipulates, in certain cases, to only use the charge without the escutcheon. The shades of the principal tinctures, white (Argent) and red ( Gules), which are the national colors of Poland, are specified as coordinates in the Lab color space, CIE 1976 color space (see Flag of Poland#National colors, Flag of PolandNational colors for details).

History

According to legend, the White Eagle emblem originated when Poland's legendary founder Lech, Czech and Rus, Lech saw a white eagle's nest. When he looked at the bird, a ray of sunshine from the red setting sun fell on its wings, so they appeared tipped with gold, the rest of the eagle was pure white. He was delighted and decided to settle there and placed the eagle on his emblem. He also named the place Gniezdno (currently Gniezno) from the Polish word ''gniazdo'' ("nest").

The symbol of an eagle appeared for the first time on the coins made during the reign of Bolesław I the Brave, Bolesław I (992–1025), initially as the coat of arms of the Piast dynasty. Beginning in the 12th century, the eagle has appeared on the shields, ensigns, coins, and seals of the Piast dukes. It appeared on the Polish coat of arms during Przemysł II reign as a reminder of the Piast tradition before the fragmentation of Poland.

The eagle's graphic form has changed throughout centuries. Its recent shape, accepted in 1927, was designed by professor Zygmunt Kamiński (painter), Zygmunt Kamiński and was based on the eagle's form from the times of Stefan Batory's reign. It was adapted to stamps or round shields rather than to a rectangular shape.

The arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was quartered, with Polish eagle and Lithuanian Coat of arms of Lithuania, Pogonia on opposite sides. Kings used to place their own emblems in escutcheon point (i.e., House Vasa).

Despite the fact that new emblems were given to provinces established by the invaders after the partitions of Poland, the White Eagle remained there with or without crown and occasionally with face turned towards left and in some exceptions with Pogonia. But in most cases they were combined with the invader's emblem.

The Poles conscientiously collected coins from the pre-partitions period with the eagle on their obverse and reverse. The symbol of the eagle, often with Coat of arms of Lithuania, Pogonia, appeared on numerous flags and emblems of the November Uprising.

The resurrection of the Kingdom of Poland (1916-1918), Polish Kingdom (Polish Regency) in the territories of the former Congress Poland (which had been partitioned and annexed by the Russian Empire as the Vistula Land in 1867) was approved by Austria-Hungary and Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Wilhelm II's Germany in 1916. A year later, the first Polish banknotes (Polish Marka) with Crowned Eagle on an indivisible shield were introduced. After regaining total independence and the creation of the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939) the White Eagle was implemented by the act of 1919. Official image of the coat of arms (which resembled the emblem of Stanislaus Augustus) was used until 1927 when Zygmunt Kamiński designed a new one. According to the research of Poland, Polish heraldist Jerzy Michta published in 2017, the version designed by Kamiński was actually plagiarized from a 1924 medal by Elisa Beetz-Charpentier made in honor of Ignacy Paderewski.Wiktor Ferfecki
Godło Polski jest plagiatem?
Rzeczpospolita (newspaper), Rzeczpospolita, 2018-10-29.

After World War II, the communist authorities of the Polish People's Republic removed the crown from the eagle's head. Still, Poland was one of the few countries in the Eastern Bloc with no communist symbols (red stars, ears of wheat, hammers, etc.) on either its flag or its coat of arms. The crownless design was approved by resolution in 1955. To counter that, the Polish government in exile introduced a new emblem with a cross added atop the crown. After the fall of communism in 1989, the crown came back, but without the cross.

The eagle appears on many public administration buildings, it is present in schools and courts. Furthermore, it is placed on the obverse of Coins of Poland, Polish coins. However the issue on which conditions it should be exposed and how it should be interpreted is the topic of numerous debates in Poland. The eagle was formerly on the Poland national football team's shirts; a new shirt without the eagle was introduced in November 2011, prompting complaints from fans and president Bronisław Komorowski. Due to this overwhelming public pressure, the football shirts were redesigned with the eagle reinstated in the centre of the shirt in December 2011.

Evolution

List of Polish monarchs, Kings of Poland

File:Coat of arms of Jadwiga of Poland.svg, Jadwiga of Poland
File:Władysław jagiełło.png, Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila)
File:Warneńczyk.png, Władysław III of Poland
File:Kazimierz jagiellończyk.png, Casimir IV Jagiellon
File:Jan olbracht.png, John I Albert
File:POL COA under the rule of Alexander Jagiellon.svg, Alexander Jagiellon
File:Fictional heraldic coat of arms of Žygimantas Augustas (based on a design from a 16th century tapestry) with Lithuanian coat of arms Vytis, Polish Eagle and coats of arms of Volhynia, Smolensk, Kyiv voivodeships.png, Sigismund II Augustus

Restored Poland

File:Herb Rzeczypospolitej 1919-1927.png, Template of the white eagle in the coat of arms of Second Polish Republic, Poland (1919-1927).
File:Coat of arms of Central Lithuania 1920.svg, Coat of arms of Republic of Central Lithuania (1920–1922)
File:Coat of arms of Poland 1919-1927.PNG, Official Polish coat of arms (1919-1927) according to the law.
File:Orzeł Biały 1927.jpg, Zygmunt Kamiński's original proposed design (1927).
File:Próba bez napisu 100 zlotych 1925 mały Kopernik awers brąz.jpg, Modernist eagle from a rare coin (1925).
File:Godło_II_Rzeczypospolitej.png, Official Polish coat of arms since 1927 according to the law.
File:Narcyz Witczak-Witaczyński - 15. rocznica bitwy pod Krechowcami. Obchody w Augustowie (107-457-12).jpg, Official Polish coat of arms since 1927 according to the law, exposed by president during a steamboat cruise. Visible knight's shield, Modern French type without ordinary grey oval plate which is rare.
File:Orzeł ministerstwo infrastruktury.jpg, Polish coat of arms (unofficial) in Art Deco style, on the facade of the Ministry of Transport in Warsaw (architect Rudolf Świerczyński 1931).
File:Nowogrodzka 45 w Warszawie orzeł.jpg, Polish coat of arms (unofficial) in Art Deco style, on the facade of the post office in Warsaw (architect Julian Puterman-Sadłowski 1934).
File:Dar Pomorza Gdynia Sztokholm 1938.jpg, Polish coat of arms in the full-rigged sailing ship from Gdynia called "Dar Pomorza" (English: Gift of Pomerania), 1938.
File:Zniwiarz1.jpg, Coat of arms of Poland during the Warsaw Uprising, 1944.

Communist Poland

File:Herb prl 1980.png, The coat of arms of the Polish People's Republic (1944–1989) according to the law.
File:PL Wwa, PKiN, z orlem trybuny, 2010.06.13 (2).jpg, The coat of arms of the Polish People's Republic against the Palace of Culture and Science.

Third Polish Republic

File:Herb Polski.svg, Official coat of arms of the Republic of Poland (since 1990).
File:Coat of arms-poland.svg, Same coat of arms with black outlines
File:Godło_Rzeczypospolitej_Polskiej_-_wzór_ustawowy.png, Coat of arms of the Republic of Poland according to the law Dz.U. z 2005 r. Nr 235, poz. 2000
File:Flag of the President of Poland.svg, Presidential standard
Herb Polski liniowy.svg, The eagle used by governmental institutions and on Polish passports
Emblem of the Senate of Poland with text.svg, The logo of the Senate
Polska ePaszport.jpg, The coat of arms on a Polish passport (2006)
Sąd Najwyższy tablice przy wejściu.jpg, The coat of arms of Poland in the Supreme Court of Poland in Warsaw (by architect Marek Budzyński 1992). It's a knight's shield, Modern French type in heraldry. The knight's shields without ordinary grey oval plates are rare on facades. This type of shield, without grey oval plate resembling the coat of arms in the Polish parliament in Warsaw.
Embassy_of_Poland,_Zagreb.jpg, The coat of arms of Poland in Zagreb. The grey oval plate made of metal sheet is visible. The grey oval plates are popular in schools and embassies on facades, but ovals are considered as ordinary.
Consulate Monaco Vaduz Detail.JPG, The coat of arms of Poland in Vaduz. Poland was using golden paint (like Monaco) over its metal plates till 1939, later during the communist era paint was changed to yellow.

Military Eagle

File:POL Wojska Lądowe.svg, Polish Land Forces
File:POL Wojska Lotnicze.svg, Polish Air Force
File:POL Marynarka Wojenna.svg, Polish Navy
File:POL Wojska Specjalne.svg, Polish Special Forces
File:POL Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej.svg, Territorial Defence Force (Poland), Territorial Defence Force

See also

* Banner of Poland
* Coat of arms of Lithuania
* Coat of arms of Congress Poland
* Coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
* List of Polish nobility coats of arms images
* Flag of Poland
* Order of the White Eagle (Poland), Order of the White Eaglethe highest order in Polish honours system.
* Polish coins and banknotes
* Polish military eagle
* Polish heraldry

References

External links

* Jan Rękawek
The White Eagle
(archived 10 October 2016). ''info-poland.buffalo.edu''.

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