Editing Flag of Poland (section)

== History ==

=== Royal banner ===
{{main article|Banner of Poland}}
[[File:Great Chorąży of the Polish Crown.jpg|thumb|right|Stanisław Sobieski, Grand Standard Bearer of the Polish Crown, carrying King [[Sigismund III Vasa|Sigismund III's]] double-swallow-tailed royal banner consisting of red and white stripes emblazoned with a coat of arms combining the heraldic symbols of [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Poland]], [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]], [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]] and the [[House of Vasa]] ({{Circa|1605}})]]
The earliest [[vexilloid]]s (flag-like objects) used in Poland were known as ''stanice'' and probably resembled the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] ''[[vexillum]]'', that is a cloth draped vertically from a horizontal crosspiece attached to a wooden pole or [[spear]]. They served as both religious and military symbols as early as 10th century. With Poland's conversion to Christianity in 966, the ''stanice'' were probably Christianized by replacing pagan symbols with Christian ones. The royal [[banner of arms]] dates back to the reign of King [[Boleslaus II of Poland|Boleslaus the Generous]] (r.&nbsp;1076–1079), but it was during the reign of King [[Ladislaus the Short]] (r.&nbsp;1320–1333) that a red cloth emblazoned with the White Eagle of the arms of Poland was finally established as the Banner of the Kingdom of Poland, a symbol of royal authority used at coronations and in battles.<ref name="znamier">Znamierowski</ref>

In the times of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] (1569–1795), a banner of the Commonwealth was also used, combining the heraldic symbols of Poland and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. The Commonwealth banner was initially plain white emblazoned with the [[Coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|arms of the Commonwealth]] which consisted of the heraldic charges of Poland (White Eagle) and Lithuania ([[Coat of arms of Lithuania|Pursuer]]). Since both Polish and Lithuanian coats of arms consisted of white (''[[Argent]]'') [[Charge (heraldry)|charges]] in a red (''[[Gules]]'') [[Field (heraldry)|field]], these two colours started to be used for the entire banner. During the 17th century, the banner was usually divided into two, three or four horizontal, often swallow-tailed, stripes of red and white.<ref name="znamier" /><ref name="kuczyn">Russocki, Kuczyński, Willaume</ref>

=== National cockade ===
[[File:Grottger-pozegnanie fragm.jpg|thumb|left|A woman fastening a red-and-white [[cockade]] to a Polish insurgent's square-shaped ''[[rogatywka]]'' cap during the [[January Uprising]] of 1863–1864]]
In the 18th and 19th centuries, European nations used [[cockade]]s, or knots of coloured ribbons pinned to the hat, to denote the nationality of their military. In Poland, until 1831, there was no consensus as to what the colours of the national cockade should be. Polish soldiers wore white, white-and-red, blue-and-red or blue-white-red cockades.<ref name="znamier" />

The custom came to Poland from [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]] during the reign of [[Augustus II of Poland|Augustus II]] (r.&nbsp;1697–1733), King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. During that time, the cockade worn by the Polish military had, like in Saxony, the form of a white silk ribbon with a knot in the middle. It was later replaced with a circular white cockade wrinkled toward the center, patterned after the cockade of the [[France|Kingdom of France]]. During the reign of King [[Stanislaus II of Poland|Stanislaus Augustus]] (r.&nbsp;1764–1795), a white-and-red cockade came into use alongside the plain white one. In 1791, the Military Commission introduced a metal [[cross pattée]] as a more durable alternative to the cockade. However, many soldiers continued to either pin the cross to the cockade or wear the cockade without the cross. Polish military leaders and national heroes of the time, such as General [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]] and Prince [[Józef Poniatowski]] pinned plain white "national" cockades to their hats.<ref name="znamier" />

{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=250|align=right
| image1 = Uchwała o kokardzie narodowej.jpg |width1=1565 |height1=2595
| caption1 = National [[Cockade]] Act of 7 February 1831
| image2 = November Uprising.svg             |width2=363  |height2=578
| caption2 = Polish-Lithuanian coat of arms during the [[November Uprising]] of 1830–1831
}}

The patriotic and staunchly [[Roman Catholicism|Catholic]] members of the [[Bar Confederation]] of 1768–1772 adopted [[crimson]] – the symbol of Polish ''[[szlachta]]'', or nobility – and blue – symbolizing [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Virgin Mary]] – as their colours. These, as well as white-and-red, were considered national colours during the [[Great Sejm]] of 1788–1792. White and red were first publicly used as national colours by civilians on 3 May 1792 in [[Warsaw]], during a celebration of the first anniversary of the adoption of the [[Constitution of May 3, 1791|Constitution of 1791]]. Meanwhile, the [[Left-wing politics|political left]] wore the blue-white-red cockades of the [[French Revolution]]. [[Polish Legions (Napoleonic period)|Polish Legions]] created in 1797 in [[French client republic|French-controlled republics]] in Italy, used either national cockades of the particular Italian republics in which they served or the French tricolour cockade. In the latter case, the red and blue colours were replaced with [[crimson]] and [[navy blue]] respectively, hues considered to be traditionally Polish. The [[General Confederation of the Kingdom of Poland]], which sought to revive the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the [[French invasion of Russia]] in 1812, adopted red-and-blue cockades, symbolizing the unity of Poland (red) and Lithuania (blue).<ref name="kuczyn" /> The military of the French-controlled [[Duchy of Warsaw]] (1807–1815) and the [[Russian Empire|Russian]]-controlled [[Congress Poland|Congress Kingdom of Poland]] (1815–1831) used the white cockade, which was also worn by the cadets who started the [[November Uprising]] against Russian rule on 29 November 1830.<ref name="znamier" />

During the uprising, the Sejm realized the need for unified national insignia that could be used by the Polish military. On 7 February 1831 it adopted white and red, the [[Tincture (heraldry)|tinctures]] (colours) of the Polish and Lithuanian coats of arms, as the national cockade of Poland. The white-and-red cockade was henceforth worn by Polish soldiers in the November Uprising, as well as by participants of the [[Kraków Uprising]] of 1846, Polish freedom fighters in the [[Grand Duchy of Posen]] and the [[Austrian Empire]] during the [[Revolutions of 1848|Spring of Nations]] of 1848, and Polish insurgents during the [[January Uprising]] of 1863–1864. White and red colours were also used by civilians to show their protest against the Russian rule, as well as by people in France, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]], [[German Confederation|Germany]], [[Belgium]] and other countries as a sign of their sympathy with the Polish cause. The Sejm's decision was not, however, immediately accepted by all. Left-wing politicians of the time, such as [[Joachim Lelewel]], continued to regard the revolutionary blue, white and red as true national colours. Tricolour standards were used by some Polish guerrilla units during the January Uprising.<ref name="znamier" />

=== Twentieth century ===
[[File:Paris expo 1937 troisième photo.jpg|thumb|upright|The flag of Poland in 1937]]
[[File:Dar Pomorza Gdynia Sztokholm 1938.jpg|thumb|upright|The civil ensign of Poland in 1938]]
[[File:Poland_NYC_1939.jpg|thumb|upright|The flag of Poland in 1939]]
White-and-red flags were first waved during a patriotic demonstration on 3 May 1916 in Warsaw. The organizing committee advised participants about the correct alignment of the colours, that is with the white stripe above the red one. Still, many demonstrators brought flags with the red stripe on top. On 1 August 1919, almost a year after Poland regained independence in November 1918, the Sejm officially introduced a white-and-red bicolour as the Polish national flag. In order to avoid confusion with the white-and-red [[International maritime signal flags|maritime signal flag]] used internationally by harbor pilots and tugboats, the same act of Sejm introduced a variant of the flag with the coat of arms in the white stripe for use as a [[civil ensign]] and by Polish diplomats and consuls abroad.<ref name="znamier" />

[[File:Opaska powstancza.jpg|thumb|left|A white-and-red [[brassard]] worn by a Polish insurgent during the [[Warsaw Uprising]] of 1944. The acronym WP stands for ''Wojsko Polskie'' or [[Polish Armed Forces]].]]
Apart from changes in the legal specifications of the shades of the national colours (see the section below), the basic design of the Polish flag, including the 5:8 ratio, has remained unchanged to this day. The flag with coat of arms was only modified to adjust to the changes in the coat of arms itself. Major modifications included a change in the stylisation of the eagle from [[Neoclassicism|Classicist]] to [[Baroque]] in 1927 and the removal of the crown from the eagle's head during the [[History of Poland (1945–1989)|Communist rule]] from 1944 to 1990.<ref name="kuczyn" /><ref>Ustawa o zmianie przepisów o godle... (1990)</ref> In that period, [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]] was one of the few [[socialist state]]s in the [[Eastern Bloc]] (apart from the [[flag of Cuba]] and [[flag of Laos|Laos]]) not to adorn [[communist symbolism]] on its flag.

[[File:Warsaw Uprising - Polish Flag (1944).jpg|thumb|upright|A frayed Polish flag during the final days of the [[Warsaw Uprising]] of 1944]]
[[File:Polish flag 1945 Berlin.jpg|thumb|upright|Polish flag in Berlin on 2 May 1945]]

20th-century Polish insurgents wore white-and-red [[brassard]]s (armbands) which played a role similar to the cockade of previous centuries. Such armbands were worn by Polish freedom fighters during the [[Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919)|Greater Poland Uprising]] (1918–1919) and [[Silesian Uprisings]] (1919–1921), as well as during the [[Second World War]] (1939–1945) by the soldiers of the [[Armia Krajowa|Home Army]] (AK) and [[Bataliony Chłopskie|Peasants' Battalions]] (BCh) – usually emblazoned with the acronyms of their formations.<ref name="znamier" /> During the Second World War, Polish soldiers raised the Polish flag on several sites of their victories. On 18 May 1944, after an Allied victory over the German forces in the [[Battle of Monte Cassino]], a patrol of the 12th Podolian Uhlan Regiment (part of the [[Polish 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division]]) raised a Polish flag on ruins of the [[Monte Cassino]] abbey in Italy. On 1 August 1944, the first day of the [[Warsaw Uprising]], a white-and-red flag was hoisted on the [[Prudential (Warsaw)|Prudential]] building, Warsaw's tallest skyscraper of the time. During the liberation of Warsaw by Soviet forces and [[Ludowe Wojsko Polskie|Polish People's Army]] on 17 January 1945, Polish flags were raised on the [[Belweder|Belvedere]] palace and ruins of the [[Warsaw Główna|Main Railway Station]]. On 2 May 1945, after the [[Battle in Berlin|capture of Berlin]], soldiers of the 7th Battery, 3rd Division, 1st Light Artillery Regiment planted Polish flags on the [[Berlin Victory Column]].<ref name="znamier" />

Polish flags were also used by anti-government demonstrators under the Communist rule. During the bloody riots of [[Poznań 1956 protests|1956 in Poznań]] and [[Polish 1970 protests|1970 in Gdynia]], protesters carried flags that were blood-stained on the white stripe.<ref name="znamier" />

=== Shades of red ===
{| class="wikitable" style="float: left; clear: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0"
|-
! colspan=2 | Shades of [[red]] comparison
|-
|  style="background:crimson; width:15%;"|
| [[Crimson]]
|-
| style="background:#e52b50;"|
| [[Amaranth (color)|Amaranth]]
|-
| style="background:#e34234;"|
| [[Vermilion]]
|-
| style="background:#d4213d;"|
| Current statutory{{efn|name="colour"}}
|-
| style="background:#f00;"|
| [[Web colors|HTML red]]
|}

{{multiple image
| perrow = 1
| total_width = 150
| align = right
| direction = 
| width = 
| image1 = Flag of Poland (1919-1928).svg
| width1 = 1280
| height1 = 800
| caption1 = {{FIAV|historical|1}} Flag of Poland (1919–1927)
| image2 = Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg
| width2 = 1280
| height2 = 800
| caption2 = {{FIAV|historical|1}} Flag of Poland (1927–1980)
| footer = '''Historical flags'''
| image3 = Flag_of_Poland.svg
| width3 = 1280
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| caption3 = {{FIAV|normal}}{{FIAV|111000}} Flag of Poland (1980–present)
}}

Until 1927, the exact shades of the national colours were not legally specified. In practice, the actual hue, particularly of red, depended on what kind of red dye was available. In pre-partition Poland, [[crimson]], due to its high price, was a colour associated with the rich and the privileged. It could be obtained from the domestically harvested [[Polish cochineal]], although imported alternatives were also available: [[Kermes (dye)|kermes]] from the Mediterranean Basin (hence ''karmazyn'', the Polish name of the colour) and Mexican [[cochineal]] after the discovery of the New World. Crimson was reserved for the nobility and considered a symbol of the aristocracy, so that ''karmazyn'' became synonymous with a [[magnat (Poland)|magnate]]. A royal ban on wearing this colour could be a form of punishment; in the 14th century, the [[Nałęcz coat-of-arms|Nałęcz]] clan of [[Greater Poland]] were forbidden to dress in crimson for their ancestors' complicity in the assassination of King [[Premislaus II of Poland|Premislaus]] in 1296.<ref name="znamier" /> In the first half of the 19th century, due to the influence of French fashion, crimson was largely replaced with the cheaper [[Amaranth (color)|amaranth]].<ref name="kuczyn" />

The National Cockade Act of 1831 did not specify the shade of red, for which it was criticised by Joachim Lelewel,<ref name="znamier" /> nor did the Coat of Arms and National Colours Act of 1919. In 1921, the Ministry of Military Affairs issued a pamphlet with illustrations of the Polish flag and other national symbols which used the crimson shade of red.<ref>Łoza, Czaykowski</ref>
The pamphlet was not, however, an official source of law and was published for informative purpose only. The shade of red was first legally specified by a presidential decree of 13 December 1927 which stipulated that the official shade was [[vermilion]]. This specification was upheld by a decree of 7 December 1955.<ref name="znamier" /> The Coat of Arms Act of 31 January 1980<ref name="act" /> replaced the verbal prescription with [[Trichromacy|trichromatic]] coordinates in the [[CIE 1931 color space|CIE colour space]] as proposed by Nikodem Sobczak, an expert in [[colorimetry]],<ref>Bajtlik</ref>
bringing the resulting hue closer to crimson again.