Editing Flag of Poland (section)

=== 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" />