Establishment of the Polish National Flag Day – controversies
On 20 February 2004 – referring here to the date in the title of the Act on Amendments to the Act on the Emblem of the Republic of Poland... – the Sejm amended the above-mentioned Act by inserting Article 6a, which reads: (...) 2 May shall be established as the Polish National Flag Day. The establishment of the Polish National Flag Day in 2004 was not a foregone conclusion. Following the legislature's initial assumption of the need to honour the sign of Polish statehood by law, an interesting dispute arose between those in favour of honouring the flag on Flag Day, falling on 2 May, and those in favour of honouring the White Eagle on Eagle Day, set for 25 June (the date of the royal coronation of Przemysł II – 25 June 1295). The flag emerged victorious from this rivalry of the honourable signs of Poland and the Poles.
White Eagle and National Colours
In many publications (especially online) one can find statements that the first day of the "official" use of the Polish colours, i.e., white and red, should be considered the first anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May, i.e. 3 May 1792. The source describing the ceremony of 3 May 1792 notes the appearance of women in white dresses with sashes and mottled ribbons, as well as senators and other non-senior officials in dresses of Polish orders with a red ribbon on top. The king and others present at the ceremony on 3 May 1792, gathered to honour Saint Stanisław, bishop and at the same time to participate in the laying of the foundation stone of the Temple of Divine Providence.
The red of some elements of the costumes of the participants of the mentioned events symbolized the martyrdom of Saint Stanisław, the bishop. It should be noted on this occasion that regardless of the form of the symbols of Poland and Poles, the sash of the Order of St. Stanisław, the bishop, established in 1765, was red with a white accent. White, on the other hand, was the eternal and supra-national colour of royalty. It seems that despite the encouraging and tempting circumstances described in the cited source, 3 May 1792 cannot be considered the date of the birth of the Polish national colours.
However, the establishment of the Polish national colours can be linked to the events of 7 February 1831. On that day (after stormy deliberations and the submission of other projects), the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Senators of the insurgent Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland succeeded in passing a resolution on the design of the Polish national red and white cockade. For the first time, the state authority defined by law the colours that, in addition to the coat of arms, were to symbolise Poland and the Polish people.
Polish national cockade of February 1831 had colours borrowed from the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, i.e. white and red. It is not possible to determine from the wording of the government decision what colour value (shade) the colour red had. This knowledge can be obtained from the minutes of the insurgent authorities of the Kingdom of Poland. They show that the red colour of the Polish national coat of arms was crimson, i.e. the colour of a poppy, and this was the colour that was to be used on the Polish national cockade.
On the basis of the above-mentioned regulation from February 1831, it is not possible to clearly determine the order of the coloured circles forming the Polish national cockade. From the description of the cockade – white and red – it can be concluded that the larger circle was made of white material, on which the heart of the bow was made of red material. To us, contemporary Polish national cockades have an arrangement of colours adapted to heraldic rules. On the larger, red circle, i.e. corresponding to the colour of the coat of arms, there is a smaller, white circle, i.e. corresponding to the colour of the eagle (coat of arms emblem).
White with red on the Polish national cockade
The problem of the colour value of red, as well as the order of colours in the national flag of Poland, recurred with varying intensity in the implementation of specific signs and in discussions about their form.
The order of colours in the national flag of Poland was determined by the legislator in an act of August 1919, and until then the white and red stripes were arranged freely.
Before August 1919, the national flags of Poland formed from white and red poles also appeared. In December 1927, the red of the shield of the Polish state eagle and the red of the lower stripe of the Polish state flag were defined as vermilion. Before December 1927, there were opinions that the red of the Polish coat of arms and the Polish national colours was amaranth or crimson. In 2021, when creating a new act on symbols of the Republic of Poland, employees of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage suggested those designing new patterns of Polish and Poles' symbols to use crimson red in their designs.
In the above-mentioned draft of the new Act on the Symbols of the Republic of Poland of 2021, in a different way than described in the Act on the Emblems of the Republic of Poland of August 1919, the functions of the national flag of Poland with the White Eagle on a white stripe were defined. From August 1919, the flag composed of white and red stripes and the coat of arms of the Republic of Poland on the white stripe was used to identify the Polish state outside its borders. According to the draft bill of 2021, the white and red flag with the White Eagle was to be used by state offices, and the flag without the White Eagle would become the national flag of general use. The draft of the new Act on Symbols of the Republic of Poland of 2021 has not been adopted.
The history of the national flag of Poland is rich in symbols and controversy, but its significance as a national symbol remains undeniable.
Text: Prof. Marek Adamczewski, Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Lodz
Edit: Iwona Ptaszek-Zielińska, Press Office of the University of Lodz (Communications and PR Centre)
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