Red Griffin of Pomerania

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A griffin, griffon, or gryphon, however it's spelled, represents the unification of the two most regal animals, the lion and the eagle. As such, it is considered particularly majestic.

Heraldic griffins are usually shown in the position seen in the design. This posture is usually blazoned segreant, a term reserved solely for griffins. Any other animal in the same posture, such as a lion, is blazoned as rampant.

Pomerania is a region in northern Europe on the Baltic Sea now split between Poland and Germany. In the past, it was a somewhat independent duchy, and powers such as Poland, Sweden, and the Holy Roman Empire often fought for control.

The coat of arms comes from the duchy's ruling House of Griffins, which first used the griffin as its symbol in 1214.

The text is from the 1614 Low German Bible, written in the distinctive language of the region, known as Low German, Low Saxon, or Plattdeutsch.

Polish Eagle

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A white eagle is the symbol of Poland because the nation's legendary founder Lech saw a white eagle in a nest bathed in the light of the sun and chose to settle and make a home for himself on that spot. He named the place Gniezdno from the Polish word gniazdo meaning nest.

The white eagle was first used on the Polish coat of arms during the thirteenth century. During the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the eagle was quartered with the Lithuanian coat of arms. Under communist rule, the white eagle remained as the coat of arms, but the crown was removed. After the fall of the Communist government in 1989, the crown was restored.

The red shield in this design is made up of words from a poem by the famous Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz