The flag that is used as the symbol of

Masuria Masuria ( ; ; ) is an ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship (ad ...

, a region in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and the Masurian people, is divided horizontally into three stripes, that are, blue, white, and red. It was created in 1829, and popularly used until 1945, ever since existing as an obscure symbol, with some modern attempts of its revival.

Design

The flag was divided horizontally into three equally-sized stripes, blue, white, and red. Until 1882, it used dark blue, which was then replaced with lighter shade. The blue colours symbolized freedom, equality, and fraternity.

History

The flag of

was created in 1829, as the banner of the Corps Masovia Königsberg, a student corp, at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

, in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

(now

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

), that functioned as the student association of students from the region of

. The design was inspired by the French tricolour flag, and the colours stood for freedom, equality, and fraternity.E. Loch: ''Zur Hundertjahrfeier der Masovia''. In: ''Deutsche Corpszeitung'', 47. Jg., Nr. 3 (June 1930), p. 77–79. The flag was created before the Prague Slavic Congress in 1848, at which

pan-Slavic colors The pan-Slavic colors—blue, white and red—were defined by the Prague Slavic Congress, 1848, based on the symbolism of the colors of the flag of Russia, which was introduced in the late 17th century. Historically, however, many Slavs, Sla ...

were adopted. The Corps Masovia Königsberg functioned until 28 October 1935, when it was dissolved from the orders of

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. It was reastablished in 2001, in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In the following decades the flag begun gaining popularity among Masurian people, since 1850s being hang during various events and holidays, eventually gaining huge popularity around 1875. The flag remained in general use until 1945, when in the

aftermath of World War II The aftermath of World War II saw the rise of two global superpowers, the United States (U.S.) and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). The aftermath of World War II was also defined by the rising threat of nuclear warfare, the creation and implementati ...

, the

expulsion Expulsion or expelled may refer to: General * Deportation * Ejection (sports) * Eviction * Exile * Expeller pressing * Expulsion (education) * Expulsion from the United States Congress * Extradition * Forced migration * Ostracism * Persona non ...

of the German population from the region, then annexed into

. Following that the flag had fallen into obscurity. Nowadays, some organizations are attempting the revival of the flag usage in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship,

References

{{Polish flags

1829 establishments in Prussia

Culture of Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship Flags with blue, red and white

Design

History

See also

References