Gryf (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

for "

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

"), also known as Jaxa, is a Polish coat of arms that was used by many

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

families in

medieval Poland This article covers the history of Poland in the Middle Ages. This time covers roughly a millennium, from the 5th century to the 16th century. It is commonly dated from the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, and contrasted with a later Early Modern ...

and later under the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

, branches of the original medieval Gryfita-Świebodzic family as well as families connected with the Clan by adoption at

ennoblement Ennoblement is the conferring of nobility—the induction of an individual into the noble class. Currently only a few kingdoms still grant nobility to people; among them Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Vatican. Depending on time and reg ...

or even by error.

History

Legend

Leszek III, legendary Prince of Poland, 805?, had 14 sons, of whom the oldest was Popiel I his successor to the throne.

Leszek Leszek () is a Slavic Polish male given name, originally ''Lestko'', ''Leszko'' or ''Lestek'', related to ''Lech'', ''Lechosław'' and Czech ''Lstimir''. Individuals named Leszek celebrate their name day on June 3. Notable people bearing the ...

assured special parts of the realm to the remaining sons within his lifetime, obligating them by oath not to make the sovereignty of Popiel contentious. This ensured the safety and liberty of the country with a united army. *The other sons: * ''Barnim'' and ''Bogdal'' kept the principality of

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

. *''Kazimierz'' and ''Władysław'', the principality of

Kashubia Kashubia or Cassubia ( or ; ; or ) is an ethnocultural region in the historic Eastern Pomerania (Pomerelia) region of northern Poland. It is inhabited by the Kashubian people, and many in the region have historically spoken the Kashubian langua ...

*''Vratislav'', the island

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

, with ''Przybysław''. *''Cieszymierz'' and ''Otto'', the

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

(Łużyce), *''Ziemowit'' and ''Zemornyst'', the land of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

(Brenna & Stodorania). *''Jaxa'' with another brother, the

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

county (Miśnia), in

(Łużyce) All these sons united under one war flag given by Leszek. The Lechites originally had a young lion on its war flag, then around 550, the white eagle appeared as a realm flag. The combination of both animal pictures into one figure has developed. Hence a lion's body and an eagle's head, which appears on and above the Gryf shield. 200px, The Gryf coat of arms on the left side next to the Leliwa coat of arms, on the painting ''Epitafium Wierzbięty z Branic'', 1425

Blazon

Notable bearers

Notable bearers of this

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

have included: * Gryfici (Świebodzice) **

Jaksa Gryfita Jaksa Gryfita, Jaksa z Miechowa or Jaxa Gryfita (1120–1176) of the Gryfici family was a medieval ''możnowładca'' (magnate) in Lesser Poland, crusader and fundator of the Monastery of the Holy Sepulchre in Miechów Miechów is a town in Po ...

** Andrzej Gryfita *** House of Branicki ****

Jan Klemens Branicki Count Jan Klemens Branicki (also known as Jan Kazimierz Branicki; 21 September 1689 – 9 October 1771) was a Polish nobleman, magnate and Hetman, Field Crown Hetman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1735 and 1752, and Great Cro ...

****

, Marshall of the

Crown Tribunal The Crown Tribunal (, ) was the highest appellate court in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland for most cases. Exceptions were if a noble landowner was threatened with loss of life and/or property, when he could appeal to the Sejm court (Parliament ...

**** Stefan Mikołaj Branicki,

Voivode of Podlasie Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...

****

Grzegorz Branicki Grzegorz Branicki z Ruszczy (c. 1534–1595) was a Polish nobleman. He was Łowczy of Kraków from 1563, burgrave of Kraków from 1590, and starost of Niepołomice. He wrote a commentary in Jan Achacy Kmita Jan Achacy Kmita (died 27 August ...

****

Anna Branicka Count Sebastian Lubomirski ( 1546 – 20 July 1613) was a Polish–Lithuanian nobleman (szlachcic). He was owner of Wiśnicz and Siercza. He was Żupnik of Kraków in 1581–1592, burgrave of Kraków since 1584, castellan of Małogoszcz sinc ...

***

House of Mielecki Gryf coat of arms of the Mielecki family Mielecki (plural: Mieleccy, feminine form: Mielecka) was a family of knights, a branch of the Gryffin Clan. The founders and former owners of the City of Mielec. History It is believed that their proge ...

**** Mikołaj Mielecki **** Zofia Mielecka *

Kazimierz Małachowski Kazimierz Małachowski of Gryf (1765–1845) was a Polish military officer and a general of both the armed forces of Duchy of Warsaw and the Kingdom of Poland. A recipient of Virtuti Militari for his actions during the Napoleonic Wars, he is ...

Józef Leśniewski Józef is a Polish variant of the masculine given name Joseph. Art * Józef Chełmoński (1849-1914), Polish painter * Józef Gosławski (1908-1963), Polish sculptor Clergy * Józef Glemp (1929-2013), Polish cardinal * Józef Kowalski (19 ...

, general * Abraham z Jaxów Chamiec, first known owner of

Międzyrzec Podlaski Międzyrzec Podlaski () is a town in Biała Podlaska County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, with a population of 17,102 inhabitants . The total area of the town is . Międzyrzec is located in the historic region of Podlachia, near the Krzna river, n ...

Bogdan Jaksa-Ronikier Bogdan (Cyrillic: Богдан) is a Slavic masculine name that appears in the South Slavic languages and in Polish, Romanian and Moldovan. It is derived from the Slavic words ''Bog'' (Cyrillic: Бог), meaning 'god', and ''dan'' (Cyrillic: ...

, writer and publicist *

Aleksander Krzysztof Chodkiewicz Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

, Bishop of Kieś and Canon of

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Zygmunt Rożen Zygmunt, Zigmunt, Zigmund and spelling variations thereof are masculine given names and occasionally surnames. It has the same etymology as the Germanic name Zigmund. People so named include: Given name Medieval period * Sigismund I the Old (1467� ...

, knight * Mateusz Michał Bąkowski,

Stolnik Stolnik (, , , , ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. It approximately corresponds to English term wikt:pantler, "pantler". S ...

Halicz Halych (, ; ; ; ; , ''Halitsch'' or ''Galitsch''; ) is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The city gave its name to the Principality of Halych, the historic province of Galicia (Halychyna), and the Kingdom of Galicia–V ...

Szymon Konarski Szymon Konarski (; 1808–1839) was a 19th-century Polish- Lithuanian radical democratic politician and revolutionary, one of the leaders of the November Uprising of 1831. As a politician, he supported the radical idea of social and econo ...

heraldist Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

* House of Otwinowski ** Erazm Otwinowski poet and Socinian activist ** Franciszek Jaxa Otwinowski, member of the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

August Otwinowski August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Southern Hemisphere, August is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, August ...

Burgrave Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from , ), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especially a royal or episcopal castle, and its territory called a ''Burgraviate'' or ''Burgr ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Individual grants based on Gryf

file:POL COA Dębicki Hrabia.svg, Counts Dębicki file:POL COA Konarski Hrabia.svg, Counts Konarski File:Bobowski Baron POL COA.svg, Barons Bobowski File:POL COA Bałła.svg, Bałła (odm. Gryf) file:POL COA Rosen.svg, Rosen, a variation of Gryf according to Przemysław Pragert file:POL COA Jadunka.svg, Jadunka, a variation of Gryf according to Przemysław PragertPrzemysław Pragert: Herbarz rodzin kaszubskich. T. 2. BiT, 2007, s. 83, 245. . file:Białoskrzydł POL COA.svg, Białoskrzydł coat of arms

Gallery

Gryfska vlajka.png, The Gryf brotherhood and knights led by

Zygmunt z Bobowej Zygmunt, Zigmunt, Zigmund and spelling variations thereof are masculine given names and occasionally surnames. It has the same etymology as the Germanic name Zigmund. People so named include: Given name Medieval period * Sigismund I the Old (1467� ...

participated at the

Battle of Grunwald The Battle of Grunwald was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila), a ...

Related coat of arms

Chodkiewicz Coat of Arms Chodkiewicz (''Gryf z Mieczem'') is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by the Chodkiewicz family in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. A variant of the Kościesza with the Gryf coat of arms and the notable longer family line as ...

Coat of arms of Latvia The Coat of arms of the Republic of Latvia was officially adopted by the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia on 15 June 1921, and entered official use starting on 19 August 1921. It was created using new national symbols, as well as elements of the ...

* Coat of arms of

Ainaži Ainaži (; is a Latvian port town by the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. Administratively, it is part of the Limbaži Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is located on the south side of the Estonia-Latvia international border, on ...

Bibliography

* Tadeusz Gajl: Herbarz polski od średniowiecza do XX wieku : ponad 4500 herbów szlacheckich 37 tysięcy nazwisk 55 tysięcy rodów. L&L, 2007. . * Jan Długosz: Jana Długosza kanonika krakowskiego Dziejów polskich ksiąg dwanaście, ks. IX. Kraków: 1867-1870, s. 264.

References

{{Coats of arms of Polish families, state=collapsed

Gryf Gryf ( Polish for "Griffin"), also known as Jaxa, is a Polish coat of arms that was used by many noble families in medieval Poland and later under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, branches of the original medieval Gryfita-Świebodzic fa ...

History

Legend

Blazon

Notable bearers

Individual grants based on Gryf

Gallery

Related coat of arms

See also

Bibliography

References