The city of

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 ...

uses a

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 ...

, a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

, official colors, a

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

, and a

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

as its official symbols. Additionally, a number of semi-official and unofficial symbols of the city are also used. Image:Flag of Krakow.svg, Flag of Kraków, also during its time as a city-state Image:Banner of Kraków.svg, Banner of Kraków Image:POL Kraków COA.svg, Coat of Arms of Kraków Image:Seal of Krakow.png, Seal of Kraków

Official symbols

The current official symbols of Kraków are described by the Ordinance of the Kraków City Council no. CXXIII/1150/02 adopted on October 9, 2002. However, they are all based on symbols which have been in use since much earlier, some of them dating back to the 16th century.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms displays a red brick wall with three towers in a blue field. Each tower, the middle one taller and wider than the other two, is topped with a

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

with three crenels and has a black vertical loophole and a black window. In the wall there is a gate with a pair of open golden doors with

fleur-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

-shaped metalwork and a raised golden grate. Inside the gate there is the White Eagle with a golden

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...

and talons. The escutcheon has a typically

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

shape and is topped with a golden Crown of Bolesław I the Brave with fleurs-de-lis, closed with a

globus cruciger The for, la, globus cruciger, cross-bearing orb, also known as ''stavroforos sphaira'' () or "the orb and cross", is an Sphere, orb surmounted by a Christian cross, cross. It has been a Christian Church, Christian symbol of authority since the M ...

(an orb with a cross). The crowned White Eagle, which is also used in the coat of arms of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and the crown above the escutcheon symbolize the fact that Kraków was the Polish capital and seat of Polish kings from ca. 1040 until 1596. The coat of arms with the brick wall, the three towers, the open gate and the eagle dates back to the 16th century. The actual colors and shapes, however, changed with time. The current design, adopted in 2002, uses shapes of the escutcheon and the eagle based on those found on Renaissance seals,

signet Signet may refer to: *Signet, Kenya, A subsidiary of the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), specifically set up to broadcast and distribute the DTT signals * Signet ring, a ring with a seal set into it, typically by leaving an impression in sea ...

s and other artifacts, but other shapes, including Gothic and Neo-Classical, were also used in past. The Free City of Kraków, a

city state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

which existed between 1815 and 1846 used the Kraków coat of arms as its state symbol. The Grand Duchy of Kraków created after the Free City's annexation by the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, used the White Eagle with the Kraków coat as an

inescutcheon In heraldry, an inescutcheon is a smaller Escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon that is placed within or superimposed over the main shield of a coat of arms, similar to a Charge (heraldry), charge. This may be used in the following cases: * as a sim ...

but without the eagle inside the gate.

Seal

The seal is round and consists of the coat of arms surrounded by an inscription with the city's official name: ''Stołeczne Królewskie Miasto Kraków'', or "Royal Capital City of Kraków".

Colours and flag

The official colors of Kraków are white and blue. The flag consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the top one white and the bottom one blue. The flag proportions are 5:8. The white-and-blue bicolor was adopted as the flag of the Free City of Kraków in 1815. It is almost identical with the civil

flag of San Marino The national flag of San Marino is formed by two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and light blue with the national coat of arms of San Marino, coat of arms superimposed in the center; the coat of arms has a shield (featuring Three Towers of ...

, the only difference being the shade of blue.

Banner

The banner consists of a white

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...

in a blue field with the coat of arms superimposed in the center. The banner proportions are 5:8. It is attached to a pole topped with a miniature of the crown used for coronations of Polish kings.

Use of official symbols

The use of the city's official symbols is regulated by the Ordinance no. 167/2004 signed by the Mayor of Kraków on February 6, 2004. Both the banner and the seal exist in only two official specimens. One set of the banner and seal is used by the Mayor (''Prezydent Miasta Krakowa'') and the other – by the President of the City Council (''Przewodniczący Rady Miasta Krakowa''). The banner is only used on special occasions. Similarly, the seal is only impressed upon particularly important documents. The coat of arms should be displayed outside and may be also displayed indoors by organs of the City of Kraków, the city administration and the city's one-person joint-stock companies. The flag is the most "democratic" of the official symbols as it may be used virtually by anyone, especially on special occasions.

Other symbols

Since the use of most of Kraków's official symbols is legally restricted, many semiofficial and unofficial symbols are also used. The Kraków logo, which includes the city's

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name, ''Cracovia'', is used by the city authorities for Kraków's promotion. Another popular symbol of the city is a stylized crowned letter K based on that found on old city seals and, most famously, on the door to the

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral (), formally titled the Archcathedral Basilica of Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Saint Stanislaus and St. Wenceslas, Saint Wenceslaus, () is a Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it ...

. Images of the city's

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

s, Saint Stanislaus and

Saint Florian Florian (; AD 250 – 304) was a Christian holy man and the patron saint of chimney sweeps; soapmakers, and firefighters. His feast day is 4 May. Florian is also the patron saint of Poland, the city of Linz, Austria, and Upper Austria, jointl ...

, may be also used as its symbols, particularly in religious contexts. ''

Hejnał mariacki St. Mary's Trumpet Call (Polish language, Polish: ''Hejnał mariacki''; Polish pronunciation: , derived from the Hungarian language, Hungarian expression ''Szűz Mária hajnala'' meaning "Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Mary's dawn") is a traditional, ...

'', the famous trumpet call made every hour from the taller tower of St Mary's Church, may be considered an audible symbol of Kraków. Other unofficial symbols of Kraków include a variety of objects popularly associated with the city, such as: * the Wawel Dragon; * the

Lajkonik The Lajkonik is one of the unofficial symbols of the city of Kraków, Poland. It is represented as a bearded man resembling a Tatars, Tatar in a characteristic pointed hat, dressed in Turco-Mongol tradition, Mongol attire, with a wooden horse aro ...

; * certain landmark buildings, especially the

Wawel The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

, St Mary's Church, the Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) and the Barbican; * mascarons from the Sukiennice

attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...

; * the

krakowiak The Krakowiak or Cracovienne is a fast, syncopated Polish folk dance in duple time from the region of Kraków and Lesser Poland. The folk outfit worn for the dance has become the national costume of Poland, most notably, the rogatywka peaked hat ...

folk costume; * ''

obwarzanek krakowski An ' (, plural: ' ; also spelled ') is a braided ring-shaped bread that is boiled and sprinkled with salt and sesame or poppy seeds before being baked. It has a white, sweetish, moist and chewy crumb underneath a crunchy golden-brown crust. Tra ...

'', a traditional ring-shaped bread.

References

__NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Symbols of Krakow Kraków

Saltire flags