History of the flag and flagpole in Poland

The history of the Polish flag is the history of colours that for centuries appeared on banners, became a cockade in the 18th century and a symbol of the struggle for independence in the 19th century. The flagpole with the white and red flag became a sign of Polish statehood only in the reborn Republic. This guide presents the main stages, based on legal acts and the historical outline in the National Security Bureau's booklet “Duma i szacunek”. The meaning of the colours is explained in the guide to flag symbolism.

Banners and pennants

According to the Bureau, the colours of the White Eagle coat of arms, the white of the eagle and the red of the shield, were used for centuries on military banners and pennants as an outward sign of belonging to the state. A banner was then above all the sign of an army, a ruler or a land, carried on a staff, rather than a flag raised on a flagpole in front of a building.

The national cockade

In the second half of the 18th century, during the reign of Stanisław August, the custom of wearing white and red cockades arose. They gained particular importance in 1792, on the first anniversary of the Constitution of 3 May. On 7 February 1831, during the November Uprising, the Sejm resolved that the national cockade would consist of the colours of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, that is, white with red. According to the Bureau, this was the legal recognition of white and red as the national colours.

The first flags in the streets

According to the Bureau, on 3 May 1916, the 125th anniversary of the Constitution of 3 May, the people of Warsaw went out into the streets with white and red flags. It was the first mass demonstration in which they were used.

The reborn Republic

The Act of 1 August 1919 on the emblems and colours of the Republic of Poland confirmed white and red as the national colours and established the state flag. According to the Bureau, the act set the proportions of the flag's length to its width that are still in force, 8:5, and established the flag with the coat of arms on the white stripe for diplomatic missions and as the ensign of merchant ships. The Regulation of the President of the Republic of 13 December 1927 regulated emblems, colours, banners and seals anew; in 1927 the emblem was given the stylisation used to this day. In the Second Republic, the flag on a flagpole in front of a public office, school or barracks became an everyday sign of the state.

The Second World War

According to the Bureau, during the Second World War Polish soldiers fought under white and red banners on all fronts and in the Polish Underground State. The white and red flag was planted, among other places, over the monastery at Monte Cassino and over the ruins of Berlin.

Communist Poland

After the war, the white and red flag remained the national and state symbol. According to the Bureau, however, at official ceremonies in the People's Republic it was combined with the red flag, the symbol of the imposed system. A decree of 7 December 1955 on the emblem and colours regulated the symbols anew, and the eagle in the emblem lost its crown. In 1980 the Act on the emblem, colours and anthem was passed, which in amended form is still in force. In 1990 the crown was restored to the eagle's head.

After 1989

The flagpole today

Today flagpoles with the Polish flag stand in front of public offices, schools, military units and businesses, often beside flagpoles with the flag of the European Union and a local government flag. More and more flagpoles also appear at detached houses, encouraged by the recommendation in article 7(3) of the Act and the simplification of the building rules in 2026. Today's types of flagpole are described in the guide to types of flagpoles.