Modern Symbolism
In the interwar period, a simplified image of Szczerbiec wrapped three times in a white-and-red ribbon was adopted as a symbol of Polish nationalist organizations led by Roman Dmowski – the Camp of Great Poland (Obóz Wielkiej Polski), the National Party (Stronnictwo Narodowe), and the All-Polish Youth (Młodzież Wszechpolska). Their members wore it as a badge called Mieczyk Chrobrego, or "Little Sword of the Brave". The symbol was also sewn onto the left sleeve of the sand shirt which was part of the Camp of Great Poland uniform. Among the politicians who wore the badge before World War II were Roman Dmowski, Władysław Grabski, Wojciech Korfanty, Roman Rybarski, and Wojciech Jaruzelski. During World War II, the badge was used by right-wing anti-Nazi and anti-Soviet military resistance groups, the National Armed Forces (Narodowe Siły Zbrojne) and the National Military Organization (Narodowa Organizacja Wojskowa). After the fall of communism in Poland, the Mieczyk Chrobrego symbol was readopted by new or reactivated nationalist and far-right organizations, including the League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin) and the All-Polish Youth. Additionally, Szczerbiec is the title of a periodical published since 1991 by a minor radical nationalist party, the National Revival of Poland (Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski).
In 2005, the Polish Football Association, in an attempt to curb racism among Polish football fans, prepared a blacklist of allegedly racist and fascist symbols to be banned from Polish football stadiums. The catalogue, co-authored by a leftist anti-fascist organization Never Again (Nigdy Więcej), listed the Mieczyk Chrobrego along with the Nazi swastika, the Celtic cross, and the Confederate Flag. The sword was removed from the index after a protest by MEP Sylwester Chruszcz of the League of Polish Families.
The symbolic use of Szczerbiec became a bone of contention again in 2009. After a monument to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrayins'ka Povstans'ka Armiya) on the Chryszczata Mountain in southeastern Poland was vandalized, authorities of the Ukrainian city of Lviv demanded the removal of an image of Szczerbiec from the local Polish military cemetery. The Ukrainians, recalling the legendary use of the original sword in a Polish invasion of Kiev, argued it was a Polish nationalist, militaristic and anti-Ukrainian symbol.
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