“This symbol does not need words to speak to us so deeply. The flag speaks to us every day. It is a symbol filled with the memory of many centuries of building our national community. It contains joy, hope, but also struggle, suffering, sovereignty, freedom, and also a longing for lost sovereignty, freedom, and independence,” said President Karol Nawrocki during the Flag Day ceremony.
Flag Day. Ceremonies in Warsaw
Today at 11:15 a.m., at Castle Square in Warsaw, a ceremony of raising the State Flag on the Clock Tower of the Royal Castle took place.
At 12:00 p.m., the ceremonial replacement of the flag flying over the Presidential Palace was held. The President also handed over 16 national flags that had previously flown over the Presidential Palace. They will be given, among others, to uniformed schools in every voivodeship.
Since the beginning of the year, President Karol Nawrocki has introduced a new custom: every Saturday the state flag flying over the Presidential Palace is replaced. The first 16 flags will be delivered tomorrow to uniformed schools across Poland. The ceremonial handover will take place at 12:00 p.m. during the general nomination ceremony. “We invite you to the courtyard of the Presidential Palace,” wrote Paweł Szefernaker, Head of the President’s Office, on X.
Presentation of general nominations
During the ceremony, the President presented general and admiral nominations.
Promoted to the rank of brigadier general were: Commander of the 20th Mechanized Brigade Col. Dariusz Dróżdż; Commander of the 12th Mechanized Brigade Col. Krzysztof Duda; Commander of the 21st Podhale Rifles Brigade Col. Marcin Dusza; Commander of the 25th Air Cavalry Brigade Col. Piotr Gołos; First Deputy Commander of the Territorial Defence Forces Col. Jarosław Kowalski; Head of the Missile Forces and Artillery Directorate at the General Command of the Armed Forces Col. Andrzej Kupis; Deputy Commander for Transformation and Training of the Armed Forces Col. Andrzej Lis; Commander of the 18th Artillery Brigade Col. Piotr Męczyński; and Deputy Head of the Training Directorate P7 at the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces Col. Robert Polak.
Promoted to the rank of rear admiral was Cmdr. Przemysław Karaś – Deputy Commander of the Maritime Operations Centre and Deputy Commander of the Maritime Component.
Earlier, the head of state presented state decorations to representatives of the Polish diaspora and Poles abroad, and handed out appointment acts to members of the Council for Polonia and Poles Abroad under the President of the Republic of Poland.
President: “The flag speaks to us every day”
During the ceremony in front of the Presidential Palace, the head of state delivered a speech.
“Dear nation, dear Polish women and men. It is good to see you here in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace. I am glad you are with us. Today we stand before the symbol of the flag of the Republic of Poland, which is the most important point of reference for our mission, our activity, our daily work. This symbol does not need words to speak to us so deeply. The flag speaks to us every day. It is a symbol filled with the memory of many centuries of building our national community – it contains joy, hope, but also struggle, suffering, sovereignty, freedom, and also a longing for lost sovereignty, freedom, and independence. In the flag of the Republic of Poland, in the white and red colors, we are enclosed as a national community on the same foundation of identity and values that have brought us together here today,” he said.
The President recalled that “the white and red colors have been growing into our national community for several centuries; already in the Middle Ages, the white eagle on a red field accompanied Polish knights. White-and-red banners were guarded during great Polish battles: at Grunwald, Klushino, Kircholm, and Vienna.”
“Although it was only in the first half of the 19th century that the white and red formally became national colors, they had been with us earlier. In February 1831, just a few months after the outbreak of the November Uprising, it was decided that the white-and-red flag would represent us. At a time when Poland was disappearing from the map of the world, the Polish flag was an expression and symbol of an immaterial homeland. It was present on all fronts of World War II, flying as a symbol of the immaterial homeland we longed for. Perhaps no one expressed the symbolism of the white-and-red flag more beautifully and concisely than Marshal Józef Piłsudski, who said that the flag is a symbol, an expression of the spirit of a nation that never bowed. A nation whose representatives gather today in front of the Presidential Palace. A nation that endures, is strong, and celebrates its national holidays. Thank you for being together today,” he said.
The President pointed out that the ceremony was attended by “citizens of the Polish state, but also the main protagonists of today’s event: on the one hand, newly appointed generals of the Polish Armed Forces, to whom the nation, through the President, entrusts responsibility for our security; on the other hand, students of military and uniformed classes, who are ready today to take responsibility for Poland, and perhaps also for our security in the future.”
“This is a very moving and symbolic moment that those who ensure our security meet those who are ready to ensure it, looking at the generals and the admiral as their role models. Today’s ceremony is also meant to symbolize that we are sending a signal of national unity, the community of the nation, the continuity of generations, and the continuity of the Republic of Poland. I would like us all to realize that we perform our mission only for a moment. Our mission has lasted and will continue through future generations. Without this mission, there will never be a good president or government. We must think about a lasting, more than thousand-year-old Republic of Poland,” the President stated.
Flag Day
May 2 is celebrated as Polish Flag Day. The holiday was established in 2004. This day is also the Day of Polonia and Poles Abroad. Historically, Poland’s national colors originate from the coats of arms of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In the symbolism of the Polish flag, white comes from the white of the eagle – the emblem of Poland – and from the white of the Pursuit – a knight on a galloping horse, the emblem of Lithuania. Both emblems are set on red shields. On the Polish flag, white is placed at the top because in Polish heraldry the color of the emblem is more important than the background.