The flag that is used as the symbol of

Kashubia Kashubia or Cassubia ( or ; ; or ) is an ethnocultural region in the historic Eastern Pomerania (Pomerelia) region of northern Poland. It is inhabited by the Kashubian people, and many in the region have historically spoken the Kashubian langua ...

, a region in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

, and the

Kashubian people The Kashubians (; ; ), also known as Cassubians or Kashubs, are a Lechitic ( West Slavic) ethnic group native to the historical region of Pomerania, including its eastern part called Pomerelia, in north-central Poland. Their settlement area is ...

, is divided horizontally into black and yellow stripes.

Design

There is no one universally recognized official description of the flag design. The most common version of the flag of

is divided horizontally into two equally-sized stripes that are black on top and yellow on the bottom. Notably, such design is officially recognized by the Kashubian Association. There are no official proportions of the flag's height and width. The flags colours originate from the coat of arms of Kashubia. Alternatively, some theories state that the flag originates from the flag of the Habsburg monarchy. The other version is a

banner of arms A banner of arms is a type of heraldic flag, characterised by sharing its imagery with that of the coat of arms (''i.e.'' the shield of a full heraldic achievement, rendered in a square or rectangular shape of the flag). The term is derived from ...

, based on the coat of arms of Kashubia, that depicts a black

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

standing on its back paws, wearing a yellow crown, placed in the centre of the yellow background. The griffin is adopted from the coat of arms of Kashubia.

History

The first recorded use of the flag dates back to 18 August 1929 during a Kashubian convention in

Kartuzy Kartuzy (; , or ; former ) is a town in northern Poland, located in the historic Eastern Pomerania ( Pomerelia) region. It is the capital of Kartuzy County in Pomeranian Voivodeship. Geographical location Kartuzy is located about west of Gdań ...

. In the book ''Współczesna literatura kaszubska 1945-1980'', the author

Jan Drzeżdżon Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

states that the griffin flag was the first to be shown, and the two-stripe flag was the second. He also mentions that

Aleksander Majkowski Aleksander Majkowski (; 17 July 1876 – 10 February 1938) was a Polish- Kashubian writer, poet, journalist, editor, activist, and physician. He was the most important figure in the Kashubian movement before World War II, editor of ''Gryf'', ...

owned such flag before the convention happened. The convention was the first event that saw the rise of the popularity of the flag. Following the hanging of the flag at the convention, the local government sent police officers to take it down. In order to prevent further escalation, the flag was hung next to the

flag of Poland The national flag of Poland ( ) consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colours are defined in the Constitution of Poland, Polish constitution as the national colours. A variant of t ...

Holiday

The Kashubian Flag Holiday ( Kashubian: ''Swiãto Kaszëbsczi Fanë'';

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Święto flagi kaszubskiej'') happens on 18 August as the anniversary of the first time the Kashubian flag was displayed. The first celebration of said holiday happened in 2012 as an initiative of Kashubian Association.

References

{{Polish flags Kashubia Kashubian culture

1929 establishments in Poland

Bicolor flags Culture of Pomeranian Voivodeship

Design

History

Holiday

See also

References