Polish heraldry

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Coat of arms of the aristocratic republic of Poland-Lithuania

The Polish heraldry is an independent Heraldry . It arose largely from the house brands . The first coats of arms appear in the second half of the 13th century. They have their own names and are probably derived from family names or place names. The families had common coats of arms and battle calls in case of emergencies or military involvement.

The old Polish heraldry had only few connections to the rest of the heraldic art in Europe. Popular coats of arms were the moon , stars , horseshoes and weapons. Outstanding are the large number of heraldic tribes, here in the name of similarly sounding nobles and later a larger area of ​​the country carried a coat of arms, which often only differed by the helmet jewels. The motive restriction was often limited to 30 to 40 families with the same coat of arms. In the 18th century, German heraldry had a significant influence. The beginning of the new heraldry in Poland can be dated here. Thanks to the enrichment with the Western European coats of arms, a greater variety of coats of arms was now possible. These tribes could now have up to 500 members. The national independence has been diminished by the influence of the neighborhood. Tinctures , helmet treasures and the helmet covers were and are of subordinate importance, with the help of the coats of arms the noble families can be assigned. They lack the function of being property and distinguishing marks. The Polish heraldry had no division of shields and heraldic figures, so shields with only one field are mostly common at the beginning. The crest was seen as important and a distinguishing feature. The coats of arms were not only valid for one person and their family, but for entire clans.

  • Frequently used heraldic symbols are (numbers rounded):
    • Dryja (belt with three stones),
    • Jastrzębiec (hawk), as a symbol for about 560 families,
    • Korab (boat), as a symbol for about 325 families,
    • Lis (fox),
    • Lubicz (place name), as a symbol for about 320 families,
    • Nałęcz (name of a river), as a symbol for about 280 families,
    • Nowina (new territory).
    • Rawicz (place name), as a symbol for about 250 families,
    • Sas (Saxons), as a symbol for about 230 families,
    • Ślepowron (raven), as a symbol for about 530 families,
    • Topór (hatchet).
  • Coats of arms, with a small number of families, but an important role in the history of Poland:
    • Leliwa coat of arms (pointed crescent moon, above a six-pointed star) for the Tarnowski, Melsztyński, Tyszkiewisz and Morsztyn families.
    • Pilawa coat of arms (a cross with three bars, the right part of the lower bar is missing) of the House of Potocki.

See also

Web links

literature

  • Walter Leonhard : The great book of heraldic art. Verlag Georg DWCallwey, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-8289-0768-7 .
  • Milan boys : heraldry. Albatros, Prague 1987.
  • Gert Oswald : Lexicon of Heraldry. VEB Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1984.
  • Marian Gumowski: Handbook of the Polish sealing customer . Graz 1965.
  • Marian Gumowski: Handbook of Polish Heraldry. Graz 1969.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Milan boys: Heraldry. Albatros, Prague 1987.