CIRCA - 1831 🇵🇱 - a bicolor of 2 equal, horizontal bands; upper white & the lower red

HISTORY: Officially adopted in 1919, (just after regaining independence, 1918,) the flag utilizes the pallet of historic Polish

medieval banners. Theses white-over-red cockade were first standardized as the bicolor during the 1831 uprisings against the

Russians, symbolically linking the colors to noble resistance.

The colors were drawn directly from a 13c Polish ⛨ coat of arms; a silver / white 𖤍 eagle

against a red field (which may date back further to a solid maroon 9c Banner of Greater Moravia)

(Used in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth CoA, c. 16c-18c, to represent Poland; legend attributes the 10c 🦅 eagle

to semi-mythical founder, Lech, who's said to have observed a white eagle's nest 🪹, illuminated against a sunset sky,

though it may have Roman roots🔍)

[The state variant incorporates the, now crowned 👑, silver 𖤍 eagle CoA on a red shield, centered in the white band.]

VEXILLOLOGY:* Medieval Polish heraldry adhered to traditional European conventions, meaning:;

• The WHITE Band denotes purity, innocence & noble aspirations and...

• The RED Band represents warrior 🩸 blood, martial vigor & sovereignty

 The design is an inversion of the flag of Monaco🔍, & essentially the flag of Malta🔍 on it's side, but the similarities were not intentional.

* The STUDY of FLAGS; their history, symbolism, usage, and design. From Latin vexillum - referring to a Roman military standard / flag (from velum= cloth/ covering/sail/curtain

[PIE🔍 root weg = to weave / to cover]) + Greek suffix -logia = study]