Editing Flag of Poland (section)

=== 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>