Flag of Poland

What the flag of Poland looks like

The Polish flag has two horizontal stripes of equal height. The upper one is white and the lower one is red. The flag's proportions are 5:8. Polish law specifies the shade of red, which is a bright crimson.

There are two official versions of the national flag. The first is the plain white-and-red bicolor, which is the national flag used by everyone. The second is the flag with the coat of arms: the same bicolor with the white eagle in a gold crown, on a red shield, set in the center of the white stripe. This version is used abroad by Polish diplomatic missions and on ships, and at airports and ports. That is why people often ask why Poland has two flags. The flag with the coat of arms does not replace the plain flag.

A small image of the flag appears as the Poland flag emoji, and you can download a file from the download page.

Poland flag meaning and symbolism

The colors of the flag come from the coat of arms of Poland, which shows a white eagle on a red field. The eagle has been a symbol of Polish rulers since the Middle Ages. Poles use the term barwy narodowe (national colors) for white and red.

In popular explanations, white stands for peace, purity and honesty, and red stands for the courage and the blood shed in defense of the country. These are traditional explanations rather than part of the law.

Red has a special place in Polish tradition. For centuries, the red dye for fabrics was extracted from the Polish cochineal, an insect that lives on plant roots, and "Polish red" was traded across Europe.

History of the Polish flag

White and red were the colors of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its royal banners showed the white eagle on a red field, but the kingdom had no national flag in the modern sense. White and red were used on the cockades and uniforms of soldiers in the 18th century, and on 7 February 1831 the Sejm (the parliament), during the November Uprising against Russian rule, officially declared white and red to be the national colors.

From 1795 Poland was divided among Russia, Prussia and Austria, and for 123 years there was no independent state. White-and-red flags and armbands were used by Poles in uprisings and protests, and the colors were a symbol of the desire for independence. The insurgents of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 wore white-and-red armbands.

When Poland regained its independence in 1918, the white-and-red flag was an obvious choice. A resolution of the Sejm on 1 August 1919 gave the flag its first legal definition, as white above red. A decree of 1927 specified the flag and the coat of arms. The flag remained the same in the communist period (1945-89), and the present rules are based on the Act on the Coat of Arms, Colors and Anthem of the Republic of Poland of 1980, which was amended after 1989. In 2004 Poland established 2 May as Flag Day.

Poland flag vs Indonesia and Monaco

The Polish flag is the reverse of the flag of Indonesia, which is red above white. Indonesia's flag has a ratio of 2:3, and the red is of a deeper, more orange shade. The flag of Monaco is also red above white, with a ratio of 4:5. Poland puts white at the top. There is no connection between these flags: Indonesia's colors come from the Majapahit empire, and Monaco's from the arms of the Grimaldi family.