Flags of Poland

Flags Of Poland

This is a list of flags defined by current Polish national law, either through an act of parliament or a ministerial ordinance. Apart from the national flag, these are mostly military flags, used by one or all branches of the Polish Armed Forces, especially the Polish Navy. Flags flown by vessels of non-military uniformed services are also included in the list.

Most of the flags listed below feature white and red, the national colors of Poland. The national colors, officially adopted in 1831, are of heraldic origin and derive from the tinctures (colors) of the coats of arms of Poland (the White Eagle) and Lithuania (the Pursuer). Additionally, some flags incorporate the White Eagle itself, either identical with that of the national coat of arms or one of its variants, known as military eagles, used by the Armed Forces.

Both variants of the national flag of Poland were officially adopted in 1919, shortly after Poland re-emerged as an independent state in the aftermath of the First World War in 1918. Many of the flags listed below were adopted within three years afterwards. Actual designs of most flags were modified only to adjust to the changes in the official rendering of the national coat of arms. Major modifications included a change in the stylization of the eagle from Classicist to Baroque in 1927 and the removal of the crown from the eagle's head during the Communist rule from 1944 to 1990. Legal specification for the shades of the national colors also changed with time. The shade of red was first legally specified as vermilion by a presidential decree of 13 December 1928. The verbal prescription was replaced with coördinates in the CIE 1976 color space by the Coat of Arms Act of 31 January 1980. See articles about individual flags for more about their histories.