Editing Flag of Poland (section)

== Design ==
[[File:Barwy Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej.svg|left|upright|thumb|Horizontal and vertical display of the colours of the Republic of Poland]]

=== Legal sources ===
The colours and flags of the Republic of Poland are described in two legal documents: the [[Constitution of the Republic of Poland]] of 1997<ref name="const">Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej</ref> and the Coat of Arms, Colours and Anthem of the Republic of Poland and State Seals Act ({{lang|pl|Ustawa o godle, barwach i hymnie Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej oraz o pieczęciach państwowych|italic=yes}}) of 1980 with subsequent amendments<ref name="act">Ustawa o godle... (1980, with amendments)</ref> (henceforth referred to as "the Coat of Arms Act").

Legislation concerning the national symbols is far from perfect. The Coat of Arms Act has been amended several times and refers extensively to executive ordinances, some of which have never been issued. Moreover, the Act contains errors, omissions and inconsistencies which make the law confusing, open to various interpretations and often not followed in practice.<ref name="nik">Informacja o wynikach kontroli... (NIK, 2005)</ref>

=== National colours ===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear:right; margin:0 1em;"
|+ <small>Statutory coordinates of Polish national colours in the [[CIE 1931 color space|CIE xyY]] [[color space|colour space]] with the tolerated [[color difference|colour difference]]s in [[CIELUV]]<ref name="act" /></small>
! colspan=2 | Colour{{efn|Statutory colour specifications rendered into [[sRGB]] for web display, assuming the [[white point]] at 6500&nbsp;[[Kelvin|K]]. The resulting [[RGB]] values, in [[hexadecimal]] notation, are: white <code>#E9E8E7</code> and red <code>#D4213D</code>. The shades actually visible on your screen depend on your browser and screen settings, as well as the surrounding context and other factors. An intensely luminous light background may make the statutory white colour appear grey. Many websites which display the Polish national colours use a simplified approximation of the legally specified shades by using basic [[web colors|HTML colours]]: white <code>#FFFFFF</code> and red <code>#FF0000</code>. The [[Pantone]] equivalents are 656 C and 1795 C.|name="colour"}}
! align=center | x
! align=center | y
! align=center | Y
! align=center | ΔE
|-
|  style="width:20px; background:#FFFFFF;"|&nbsp;
| White
| align=center | 0.315
| align=center | 0.320
| align=center | 82.0
| align=center | 4.0
|-
| style="background: #D4213D" |&nbsp;
| Red
| align=center | 0.570
| align=center | 0.305
| align=center | 16.0
| align=center | 8.0
|-
| colspan=6 | Illuminant C, measurement geometry d/0
|}

According to Chapter I, Article 28, paragraph 2 of the Constitution, the national colours of Poland are white and red.<ref name="const" /> The Coat of Arms Act, Article 4, further specifies that the colours are white and red in two horizontal, parallel stripes of equal width, of which the top one is white and the bottom one is red.<ref name="act" /> If the colours are displayed vertically, the white stripe is placed on the left from the onlooker's viewpoint. Attachment no. 2 to the Act shows the national colours in both horizontal and vertical alignment, as well as the official shades of both colours expressed as coordinates in the [[CIE xyY]] (CIE 1931) [[color space|colour space]] with the tolerated [[color difference|colour difference]]s (ΔE) specified in the CIE 1976 (''L''*, ''u''*, ''v''*) colour space ([[CIELUV]]).<ref name="act" />

=== Variants of the national flag ===
[[File:Polish flag with coat of arms construction sheet.svg|right|thumb|An unofficial construction sheet of the flag with coat of arms, based on specifications in Polish law]]

The Constitution contains no mention of a national flag. Instead, the flag is defined by the Coat of Arms Act which specifies two variants of the national flag: the '''national flag of the Republic of Poland''' ({{Lang|pl|flaga państwowa Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej}}) and the '''national flag with coat of arms of the Republic of Poland''' (''{{Lang|pl|flaga państwowa z godłem Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej}}''). Both flags are defined in Article 6 of the act as follows:

{{quote|
#The state flag of the Republic of Poland is a rectangular piece of cloth in the colours of the Republic of Poland hoisted on a flagpole.
#The state flag of the Republic of Poland is also the flag specified in paragraph 1, with the coat of arms of the Republic of Poland placed in the middle of the white stripe.<ref name="act" />}}

The [[Flag terminology|hoist to fly]] ratio for both flags is 5:8. For the latter flag, the proportion between the [[inescutcheon]] of the coat of arms and the hoist is 2:5. Images of both variations of the flag can be found in attachment no. 3 to the Coat of Arms Act.<ref>Ustawa o godle... (1980, original)</ref>