List of Polish national and patriotic songs

Last updated April 11, 2024

This is a list of Polish national and patriotic songs.

Bogurodzica (Mother of God): A religious hymn to the Virgin Mary dating back to between 10th and 13th centuries. It was a de facto national anthem of medieval Poland, sung at royal coronations and on battlefields, including the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 and the Battle of Varna in 1444.

Gaude Mater Polonia (Rejoice, Mother Poland): A hymn written in the 13th century by Wincenty of Kielcza. It was penned in Medieval Latin to the melody of a Gregorian chant, O salutaris Hostia. The hymn celebrates the canonization of Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów, bishop of Kraków and patron saint of Poland. In the Middle Ages, it was chanted on special occasions and after victorious battles. Today, it is performed at university ceremonies.

Daj nam Boże doczekać tej pory, by do ataku nachylić propory (Let Us, O God, Live to Lower Our Pennons for Attack): Soldiers' song which originated in Prince Józef Poniatowski's division and gained some popularity at the end of the 18th century.

Hymn do miłości Ojczyzny (O Sacred Love of the Beloved Country): Written in 1774 by Prince-Bishop Ignacy Krasicki for King Stanisław August Poniatowski's Corps of Cadets, it became in the latter's reign an unofficial national anthem of Poland. The lyrics convey the idea that love of Country gives meaning to poverty, wounds and death.

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego (Dąbrowski's Mazurka, or Poland Is Not Yet Lost): Soldiers' song written in 1797 by Gen. Józef Wybicki in praise of Gen. Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, commander of the Polish Legions serving in Italy under Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1926 it became the official national anthem of Poland.

Boże, coś Polskę: (from the first lines "Boże! Coś Polskę przez tak liczne wieki / Otaczał blaskiem potęgi i chwały...", "Lord! Who for so many ages enclosed Poland with the light of power and glory..."); Originally written in 1816 by Alojzy Feliński as Pieśń narodowa na pomyślność Króla (National Song to the King's Well-being). It was the official anthem of the Congress Kingdom of Poland reigned over by Russian emperors who were ex officio kings of Poland. Initially unpopular, it evolved in the early 1860s into an important religious and patriotic hymn. The line from the refrain, which originally begged "Save, Oh Lord, our King", was substituted with "Return us, Oh Lord, our free Fatherland" while the melody was simplified and made close to the Marian hymn. The resulting modern version has been sung in Polish churches ever since, with the final verse alternating between "Return..." and "Bless, Oh Lord, our free Fatherland", depending on Poland's political situation.

Warszawianka (The Song of Warsaw, 1831): Originally written in 1831 by Casimir Delavigne in French as La Varsovienne, with melody composed by Karol Kurpiński. The song praised the November Uprising of 1830 and, translated into Polish by Karol Sienkiewicz, it became the most popular song of the uprising and is still performed by Polish military bands today.

Gdy naród do boju (When the Nation Fights): A patriotic socialist song written in 1835 by Gustaw Ehrenberg to the melody of an aria from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Juan . The lyrics denounce the loyalist attitude of Polish magnates, noblemen and clergy during the failed November Uprising of 1830. The song was popular with members of Polish socialist and agrarian movements and became an anthem of the Polish People's Army during World War II.

Warszawianka (The Song of Warsaw or Whirlwinds of Danger, 1905): A revolutionary song written in 1879 by socialist Wacław Święcicki imprisoned in the Warsaw Citadel. First sung in the streets of Warsaw in 1885, it became particularly popular during the Revolution of 1905. Its popularity spread to Russia proper and from there to Germany, France and Spain, where it became known as A las barricadas (To the Barricades), the anarchist anthem of the Spanish Civil War.

Rota (The oath) (1908): Great anthem against German oppression and policy of germanisation, written by Maria Konopnicka, music composed 1910 by Feliks Nowowiejski, first publicly sung during patriotic demonstration July 15, 1910, in Kraków on the 500th anniversary of Polish victory in Battle of Grunwald. Special modified version of Rota has been prepared against Soviet Union after WWII when Poland became dependent.

Marsz Pierwszej Brygady (March of the First Brigade): Soldiers' song written in 1917 by Andrzej Hałaciński and Tadeusz Biernacki to the melody of Marsz Kielecki (Kielce March) composed by Andrzej Brzuchal-Sikorski in 1905. It was originally sung by soldiers of the First Brigade of the Polish Legions commanded by Józef Piłsudski during World War I. During Piłsudski's military dictatorship following the coup of May 1926, the song was an unofficial national anthem of Poland. In 2007, it became the official anthem of the Polish Armed Forces.

Morze, nasze morze (The Sea, Our Sea [ pl ]): Written at the turn of the 1930s by Adam Kowalski to praise the sailors of Poland's nascent navy and to celebrate the construction of Gdynia, a new port city on the Baltic Sea. It is now the official anthem of the Polish Navy.

Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino (Red Poppies on Monte Cassino): A military song written by Feliks Konarski and composed by Alfred Schultz in 1944 to commemorate Polish soldiers fallen in the Battle of Monte Cassino earlier that year.

Mury (Walls): A revolutionary song written in 1978 by Jacek Kaczmarski to the melody of Lluís Llach's Catalan song L'Estaca . It became an unofficial anthem of the Solidarity movement in the 1980s.

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The first Battle of Raszyn was fought on 19 April 1809 between armies of the Austrian Empire under Archduke Ferdinand Karl Joseph of Austria-Este and the Duchy of Warsaw under Józef Antoni Poniatowski, as part of the War of the Fifth Coalition in the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was not decisive, but it did result in the Austrians obtaining their goal by capturing the Polish capital Warsaw.

Rota is an early 20th-century Polish poem, as well as a celebratory anthem, once proposed to be the Polish national anthem. Rota's lyrics were written in 1908 by activist for Polish independence, poet Maria Konopnicka as a protest against German Empire's policies of forced Germanization of Poles. Konopnicka wrote Rota in 1908 while staying in Cieszyn. The poem was published for the first time in Gwiazdka Cieszyńska newspaper on 7 November. The music was composed two years later by composer, conductor and concert organist, Feliks Nowowiejski.

"My, Pierwsza Brygada", also known as Marsz Pierwszej Brygady and Legiony to żołnierska nuta, is one of the best-known patriotic marches of the Polish Legions formed during World War I by Józef Piłsudski.

Piłsudski Square, previously Victory Square and Saxon Square, is the largest city square of Poland's capital, located in the Warsaw city centre. The square is named after Marshal Józef Piłsudski who was instrumental in the restoration of Polish statehood after World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feliks Konarski</span> Polish poet, songwriter and cabaret performer

Feliks Konarski was a Polish poet, songwriter, and cabaret performer.

Józef Rufin Wybicki was a Polish nobleman, jurist, poet, political and military activist of Kashubian descent. He is best remembered as the author of "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego", which was adopted as the Polish national anthem in 1927.

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Whirlwinds of Danger is a Polish socialist revolutionary song written some time between 1879 and 1883. The Polish title, a deliberate reference to the earlier song by the same title, could be translated as either The Varsovian, The Song of Warsaw or "the lady of Warsaw". To distinguish between the two, it is often called "Warszawianka 1905 roku", after the song became the anthem of worker protests during the Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905–1907), when 30 workers were shot during the May Day demonstrations in Warsaw in 1905.

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"Bóg się rodzi" is a Polish Christmas carol, with lyrics written by Franciszek Karpiński in 1792. Its stately melody is traditionally known to be a coronation polonaise for Polish Kings dating back as far as during the reign of Stefan Batory in the 16th century. The carol is regarded by some as the National Christmas hymn of Poland, and, for a short time, it was also considered a national anthem, for instance by poet Jan Lechoń. It has also been called "one of the most beloved Polish Christmas carols".

Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino is one of the best-known Polish military songs of World War II. It was composed in May 1944 in Italy, during the Battle of Monte Cassino, on the eve of the Polish Army's capture of the German stronghold.

"O Sacred Love of the Beloved Country" is a patriotic poem by the Polish Enlightenment author and poet, Ignacy Krasicki, published in 1774. It became one of Poland's national anthems.

Jan Nepomucen Umiński of Cholewa (1778–1851) was a Polish military officer and a brigadier general of the Army of the Duchy of Warsaw. A veteran of the Kościuszko Uprising, Napoleonic Wars and the November Uprising, he died in exile in Wiesbaden.

The Representative Band of the Polish Armed Forces is a military music unit that provides musical accompaniment for official state ceremonies in the Republic of Poland. The musicians of the band are required to play ceremonial music for visiting heads of state as well as perform during national events. Since the establishment of the Third Republic in 1989, the band has become chief among its other counterparts, including the Warsaw Capital Garrison Band and the Representative Band of the Polish Land Forces. It is currently attached to the 1st Guards Battalion, Representative Honor Guard Regiment.

Boże, coś Polskę is a Polish Catholic patriotic hymn. When Poland gained its independence in 1918, it competed with Mazurek Dąbrowskiego for the right to be the national anthem of Poland. Its title is usually given as God Save Poland in English, as a hint to God Save the King. Literally it is translated as "Lord, who Poland..." from the first lines of the hymn "Boże! Coś Polskę przez tak liczne wieki / Otaczał blaskiem potęgi i chwały...", "Lord! Who for so many ages enclosed Poland with the light of power and glory...". Other translations of the title exist, such as "O Thou Lord God".

God Save Poland may refer to:

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