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Poland - Historical flags

Last modified: 2002-11-23 by jarig bakker
Keywords: poland | eagle | crown |
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Banner of 1517

[Banner of 1517] by Adam Kromer, from his website

XVI century banner

[XVI century banner] by Adam Kromer, from his website

Italian origin of the Polish flag?

I am writing from Bari, Apulia, Italy. I have read in a local paper that the colors of the Polish flag were derived from the colors of the city of Bari in 1517, when Bona Sforza duchess of Bari got married to King Zygmunt of Poland, who adopted the colors of Bari in honor of his bride. Could anybody confirm this?
Giovanni Scillitani, 17 Nov 2002

Well, the banner is indeed similar to this one. So it's possible that the vertical layout was influenced by the colors of Bari. However, the white/red colours of Poland are much older, probably since 1295, see eg. this webpage.
Mariusz Borkowski, 18 Nov 2002