A historical coat of arms symbolized the Sandomierz Land and Sandomierz Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland from the 14th to 18th centuries. It was divided into two fields, with the left field consisting of six stripes, alternating either between red and white or red and yellow, and with the right field consisting of several yellow six-pointed stars, whose number varie dbetween seven and nine.
The coat of arms was later used as the symbol of Sandomierz Voivodeship (1816–1837) and Sandomierz Governorate (1837–1841) of Congress Poland. It was part of the design of the coat of arms of Radom Governorate from 1845 to 1866. Currently, the coat of arms is included in the design of the coat of arms of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship and the coat of arms of Sandomierz County.
The coat of arms originated as the symbol of the Sandomierz Land, and since the 14th century was the symbol of Sandomierz Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland. It consisted of an escutcheon (shield) divided vertically into two halves. The left field consisted of six alternating red and white horizontal stripes, while the left field consisted of yellow (golden) six-pointed stars, placed in three rows. The number of stars alternated over time. According to the description of the banner of arms of the Sandomierz Land, used during the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, written by Jan Długosz, the coat of arms had seven stars, distributed into three horizontal rows. Later on, the version with nine stars, distributed in the three rows, each containing three stars. The number of stars might have reflected the number of the counties of the region, which ordinally was seven, and later had risen to eight, and finally nine. The colours of the stripes also varied, with yellow stripes, also being present in various depictions, as opposed to the white stripes. [1] [2] [3] [4] Sandomierz Voivodeship ceased to exist on 1795 [5]
Sandomierz Voivodeship of Congress Poland was established in 1816. In 1837, it was replaced by the Sandomierz Governorate. [6] Both of them used the coat of arms reminiscent of the design of the historical coat of arms of the region. It was divided vertically into two halves. The left field consisted of six alternating red and white horizontal stripes, while the left field consisted of nine yellow (golden) six-pointed stars, placed in three horizontal rows, each containing three stars. [2]
In 1844 the governorates of Kielce and Sandomierz were combined, forming Radom Governorate. The new coat of arms of the administrative region, was the combination of the coats of arms of the two previous regions. It was horizontally divided into two divided horizontally into two halves. The top half consisted of a red background, featuring white (silver) eagle with a yellow (golden) crown on his head that is turned right, a beak, legs, and a stripes on its wings, with the charge being placed on the red background. It was based on the previous coat of arms of the Kielce Governorate. The bottom half was further vertically divided into another two fields. The left field consisted of six alternating red and white horizontal stripes, while the left field consisted of nine yellow (golden) six-armed stars, placed in three rows, each containing three stars. Together, those to field formed a design of the former Sandomierz Governorate. The coat of arms was approved by the viceroy of Poland, Ivan Paskevich, on 5 October 1845, and later, by the tsar or Russia, Nicholas I, on 26 May 1849. It remained in use until 1866. [7]
In 1928, as part of the project to design the coat of arms for the voivodeships of the Second Polish Republic, the design for the coat of arms of Kielce Voivodeship was created. Though planned to be officially approved, it never was implemented, as it was decided to postpone the approval of the subdivision symbols due to the planned administrative reform, that eventually took place in 1938. Eventually, the plans for the establishment of the coat of arms had been stopped by the Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, on 1 September 1939, that begun the World War II, and were not picked up back after the end of the conflict. [8] [9] [10]
The proposed design consisted of the Iberian style escutcheon (shield) being divided horizontally into two halves. The top half consisted of a red background, featuring white (silver) eagle with a yellow (golden) crown on his head that is turned right, a beak, legs, and a stripes on its wings, with the charge being placed on the red background. It had the same design as the one used for the proposed coat of arms of the coat of arms of Kraków Voivodeship, and which was based on a historical design of the coat of arms used by Kraków Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland. The bottom half was further vertically divided into another two fields. The left field consisted of six alternating red and white horizontal stripes, while the left field consisted of nine yellow (golden) six-armed stars, placed in three rows, each containing three stars. Together, those to field formed a historical design of the coat of arms of Sandomierz Voivodeship. The design of the coat of arms was reminiscent to the one used by Radom Governorate of Congress Poland, from 1845 to 1869. [8] [9]
Kielce Voivodeship of the Third Republic of Poland, had established its coat of arms on 28 October 1997. It consisted of the Iberian style escutcheon, with square top and rounded base, that is divided in the 2 by 2 chessboard pattern. The top left and bottom right fields are blue, while, the top right is white, and the bottom left, consists of eight stripes, that, starting from the top, alternate between red and white colours. The top left field features a yellow patriarchal cross. The top right field features a white eagle with yellow crown, and legs. The bottom left field features nine yellow six-pointed starts, placed in three rows, each with three stars. [11] The yellow patriarchal cross on the blue background refers to the order of the Benedictines at the Łysa Góra mountain, [12] the white eagle on the red background refers to the coat of arms of Kraków Voivodeship that existed from 14th to 18th centuries, [12] [13] and the bottom fields referred to the coat of arms of Sandomierz Voivodeship. [12] [3]
Kielce Voivodeship ceased to exist on 31 December 1998, and most of its territories were incorporated into the newly established Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. [14] [15] The new administrative region reestablished the design as its coat of arms on 11 October 1999, and continued to use it until 18 February 2013, when it had adopted new current version of the coat of arms, in the resolution from 28 December 2012. [16] [17] [18]
The historical design of the coat of arms, is currently used as the symbol of Sandomierz County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. It consists of the Iberian style escutcheon, with square top and rounded base, that is divided vertically into two fields. The left field consists of six horizontal stripes, alternating between red and white (silver) colours. The right field features nine yellow (golden) six-armed stars, placed in three horizontal rows, each containing three stars. The nine stars are meant to symbolize the nine gminas (municipalities) of the county. [19] The historical coat of arms had also inspired numerous other coats of arms of counties in the region, including the counties of Końskie, Nowy Sącz, Przysucha, Radom, Szydłowiec, and Tarnobrzeg.
The coat of arms that serves as the symbol of the Lublin Voivodeship, Poland depicts a white (silver) male jumping cervus (deer), with a yellow (golden) crown on its neck, placed on a red background. The current design of the coat of arms was designed by Andrzej Heidrich, and adopted in 2002.
The coat of arms that serves as the official symbol of the Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, consists of a red escutcheon, that features a white (silver) eagle, with raised wings, and its head turned left. Its current version had been designed by Andrzej Heidrich, and adopted in 2006.
The coat of arms of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland features a white (silver) eagle with a yellow (golden) crown on his head that is turned left, a beak, legs, and a stripes on its wings, with the charge placed on the red background. It was designed by Wojciech Drelicharz, Zenon Piech, and Barbara Widłak, and adopted in 1999.
The coat of arms of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland features a white (silver) eagle with its head turned left, and raised wings, that has a yellow (golden) beak, legs, stripes on its wings, and a ring on its tail. The charge is placed in a red Heater style escutcheon with square top and acute base. It was adopted in 2000.
The civil flag of the Silesian Voivodeship, Poland is triband rectangle, divided into three horizontal stripes, that are from top to bottom: blue, yellow, and blue. The blue stripes are twice the size of the yellow middle stripe. The state flag is a blue rectangle with yellow eagle placed in its centre. It was designed by Barbara Widłak, and adopted on 11 June 2001.
The flag of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland is a triband rectangle, divided vertically in 3 stripes of white, red, and white colour, and with the coat of arms of the voivodeship in the middle. It was adopted in 2000.
The civil flag of the Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland is a rectangle divided into 4 stripes, which are, from top to bottom, yellow (golden), white, (silver), red, and green. Top and bottom stripes are twice the size of the 2 middle stripes. The state flag features the design of the civil flag, with the coat of arms of the voivodeship placed in the centre. It was adopted on 26 June 2000.
The coat of arms of Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland, features an Iberian style escutcheon divided vertically onto two sides, of which, the left side has red background, with left side of a white (silver) eagle, with yellow (golden) crown, legs, a ring on its tail, and a przepaska on its wing, while the right side, has green background with two yellow (golden) six-pointed stars, placed vertically. It was established in 2000.
The civil flag of the Opole Voivodeship, Poland is a rectangle divided into two horizontal stripes, with yellow on the top, and blue at the bottom. The top stripe is twice the size of the bottom one.
The coat of arms of the Łódź Voivodeship, Poland is an Iberian-style escutcheon with square top and rounded base. It is divided horizontally into three stripes (pales), that area from left to right: yellow (golden), red, and yellow (red), with the middle stripe being twice as big as the other stripes. It also include three charges placed in its center, with two placed next to each over, on the top of the third one. The top two charges are Kuyavian Hybrids, divided into half, into a lion and an eagle, while the bottom one is an eagle. It was designed by Marek Adamczewski, and officially adopted on 25 June 2002.
The flag of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland is a trapezoid divided into red stripe on the right, and white stripe on the left, with a white eagle with yellow (golden) beak, legs, stripes on its wings, and a ring on its tail, featured in the middle of the red stripe. It was adopted in 2000.
The flag of the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship, is red with a white boundary on its top, bottom, and right sides, and with the head of a white (silver) eagle, with yellow (golden) beak, and an eye, wearing a yellow (golden) crown, located on its left side. It was adopted in 2002.
The flag of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland is a rectangle divided into four parts. Its left part features a yellow vertical stripe, which wight equals to 1:4 of the wight of the flag. Its right part is divided into three horizontal stripes, that are, from top to bottom: blue, white, and red. In the middle of the white stripe is placed the coat of arms of the voivodeship. The first version of the flag had been adopted in 2001, and current version is used since 2013.
The coat of arms of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, consists of a white (silver) escutcheon, with a half of an eagle facing left, joined with a half of a lion facing right, both animals together wearing a yellow (golden) crown on their joined heads. It had been adopted in 2000.
The flag that serves as the symbol of the historical and geographical region of the Western Pomerania is divided horizontally into two stripes: light blue on the top and white on the bottom. It originated as the flag of the Province of Pomerania, Prussia, used from 1882 to 1935. Since 1996, it is officially recognized as the symbol of the historical region of Western Pomerania within Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, Germany.
The coat of arms that serves as the symbol of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, consists of the Iberian style escutcheon (shield), with square top and rounded base, that is divided in the 2 by 2 chessboard pattern. The top left field features a yellow patriarchal cross. The top right field features a white eagle with yellow crown, beak, legs, stripes on its wings, and a ring on its tail. The bottom left field features eight yellow six-pointed starts, placed in three rows, each with three stars, with the exception of the bottom row, that only had 2 stars, placed to the left.
The coat of arms of Sandomierz County is divided vertically into two fields, with the left field consisting of six horizontal stripes, alternating between red and white (silver) colours, and the right field featuring nine yellow (golden) six-armed stars, placed in three horizontal rows. The flag of the county divided into three vertical stripes, of blue, yellow, and blue colour, with the middle stripe being three times, and the coat of arms placed in the centre. The design was based on the historical coat of arms of the Sandomierz Voivodeship, used from 14th to 18th centuries.
The coat of arms that serves as the symbol of Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland is divided into two horizontal red fields. The top field depicts a white eagle, and a bottom field, a knight in a white (silver) armor, sitting on a white (silver) horse with a blue saddle and shabrack, and yellow (golden) harness, standing on its back hoofs. The knight has a blue shield with a yellow (golden) cross of Lorraine on it, put on his left arm, and hold a sword in his right hand. The current design of the coat of arms was designed by Tadeusz Gajl, and adopted in 2001.
The coat of arms of the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship, Poland consists of a red Iberian style escutcheon (shield) that is divided horizontally into two parts. The top part features a white eagle with a yellow (golden) crown on its head. The bottom part is divided vertically into two fields. The left bottom field depicting a Lamb of God, in a form of a white (silver) sheep with a yellow (golden) circular aureola behind its head, holding in its right hoof, a yellow (golden) cross with a white (silver) banner with red cross on it, attached to it, and bleeding from its chest, with the red drops of blood falling towards a yellow (golden) chalice placed in front of it, between its legs. The right bottom field depicts a black eagle with a yellow (golden) crown put on its neck, and a capital letter S placed on its chest.
The coat of arms and the flag of the Nowy Sącz County, Poland are divided into two vertical fields. The left field is further divided into six horizontal stripes that alternate between red and yellow (golden) colours. The right field is red, featuring yellow (golden) six-armed stars, divided into three horizontal rows, each containing three stars. They were adopted in 1999, and based on the historical design dating back at least to the 16th century.