Coat of arms of Poland

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Image:Herb Polski.svg Image:Flag of Poland with Coat of Arms.png

The Coat of Arms of Poland consists of a White Eagle on a red shield. The Eagle is wearing a crown and has golden claws and beak. 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 sometimes thought to be the White-tailed eagle, although the highly stylised depiction does not connect the White Eagle with any specific species of eagle. Another interpretation is that it is form of "heraldic eagle", based on Golden Eagle.

1 Legend
2 History
3 See also
4 Polish Military
5 Historic Coats of Arms

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Legend

The White Eagle is said to have originated when Poland’s legendary founder Lech saw a white eagle’s nest, and , 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 Empire’s coat of arms, which bore a black eagle. In their attempts to denigrate the Polish people, the anti-polonist often described the eagle as the Polish Chicken or the Polish Goose.

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History

The White Eagle is first known from coins made during king Boleslaus’s reign, initially as the Piast family’s 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 Eagle’s head and replaced (perhaps accidentally) the rosettes, which resemble stars, 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.

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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

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Historic Coats of Arms

Coat of Arms of King Przemysł II	Coat of Arms of King Władysław Łokietek	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