The White Eagle

Aquila Polonica means “Polish Eagle” in Latin. By the way, we pronounce it ‘a-KEE-la  po-LON-ika.’ (However, the ‘quil’ in Aquila can also be pronounced as in the word “quill.”)

We modeled our eye-catching red-and-white logo on the crowned Polish white eagle.

A white crowned eagle against a red background, with wings and legs outstretched, head turned to its right, and golden crown, beak and talons, is the official coat of arms of Poland. The eagle was first used as the national coat of arms in the 13th century—it appeared in various designs over the following centuries before the current design was accepted in 1927.

Many nations incorporate an eagle in their coat of arms. But there’s a particularly charming story about how the white eagle came to symbolize Poland: while out hunting, Poland’s legendary founder Lech came across an eagle’s nest, where a white eagle protected its young. The setting sun gilded the eagle’s wings with gold. This sight so impressed Lech that he established a settlement on the spot, christening it Gniezno, from the Polish word ‘gniazdo’ (‘nest’).

The white eagle is such an important symbol of Poland that it is used in the nation’s highest order of merit: the Order of the White Eagle (Order Orła Białego).

The postwar communist government in Poland removed the crown from the eagle—they viewed the crown as a symbol of monarchy in conflict with communist philosophy. The eagle remained without crown until the fall of communism.

During the communist years, the staunchly non-communist Polish government-in-exile, based in London, maintained the crowned eagle in its coat of arms, and even added a cross to the top of the crown to further distinguish it from the atheist communist government.

Restoring the crown to the eagle in Poland’s coat of arms was one of the first things done by the newly elected non-communist government in February 1990, as reported by UPI.

Several products in our store use the stylish image of the Aquila Polonica Eagle.

 

You can find more info at:
https://www.expatspoland.com/polish-eagle-means-poland/ 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Poland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_White_Eagle_(Poland)