Coat of arms of Poland
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Coat of Arms of Poland consists of a White Eagle on a red shield. The Eagle is wearing a crown. In Poland, the Coat of Arms is usually called simply White Eagle (Orzeł Biały), always capitalised. Note that in heraldry there is never a "white" colour: what we see as white is normally said to be "silver" (and "yellow" is "gold"). However, the Polish eagle is the only one which is "pure" white instead of silver.
The eagle is thought to be the White-tailed eagle, although the highly stylised depiction does not connect the White Eagle with any specific species of eagle.
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Legend
The White Eagle is said to have originated when Polands legendary founder Lech saw a white eagles nest, and considering this a good omen, founded the city of Gniezno (from gniazdo - nest). As the eagle spread its wings and soared into the heavens, a ray of sunshine from the red setting sun fell on the eagle's wings, so they appeared tipped with gold, the rest of the bird was pure white.
Some historians place the origins of the White Eagle in the Roman Empire or the Holy Roman Empires coat of arms, which bore a black eagle.
History
The White Eagle is first known from coins made during king Boleslauss reign, initially as the Piast familys personal coat of arms.
Przemysł II introduced the White Eagle as a Polish symbol.
The current version of the White Eagle was introduced by Constitutional amendment in 1927. In 1945, the new communist regime removed the crown from the Eagles head and replaced (perhaps accidentally) the rosettes on its wings with stars. The crown was reintroduced in 1990, and the current version is basically the same as that of 1927, with minor cosmetic changes.
See also
- Order of the White Eagle – the highest order in Polish honours system.
- Flag of Poland
- Coat of Arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Coat of Arms of Lithuania
- Polish heraldry
- Polish coins and banknotes
Polish Military
 Coat of Arms of the Polish Land Forces |
 Coat of Arms of the Polish Navy |
 Coat of Arms of the Polish Air Forces |
Historic Coats of Arms
 Coat of Arms of King Przemysł II |
 Coat of Arms of King Władysław Łokietek |
 Coat of Arms of King Kazimierz Wielki |
 Coat of Arms of King Władysław Jagiełło |
 Coat of Arms of King Zygmunt Stary |
 Coat of Arms of King Stanisław August Poniatowski |
 Coat of Arms of the Second Republic of Poland (1919-1927) |
 People's Republic of Poland (1945-1989) Coat of Arms, without the crown |
