The Polish flag dates back to the pennants of the Middle Ages. At first they were all red with a white eagle, but by the 17th Century the background colors of red and white stripes were firmly established. The banners usually bore the official crest of the State. These Polish national colors were used during the November Uprising of 1831, and the colors were used in all national uprisings since that time. They were officially recognized as state colors in 1919 after Poland had regained her independence as the Second Polish Republic.

The state flag of Poland, with the Polish coat of arms, has been in use since 1919. According to one legend, the crown on the Polish flag is not used during times when Poland is under occupation or imposed rule. Therefore, this flag has the Polish crown once again present on the coat-of-arms to symbolize the re-emergence of polish self-rule. A nice myth but it is mostly legend. For example, during the period when the Russian emperor was "King of Poland" and the Prussian king was the "Grand Duke of Posen" (1815-1917) the crown remained. The government imposed by the Russians chose to eliminate the crown, while the Polish government in exile (and its troops in World War II) continued to use the crown. Practically speaking, the Polish eagle without the crown was simply an invention of the Communist regime.

The Polish Navy (Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP) is the branch of Poland's Armed Forces responsible for naval operations. It 2008 it had 60 ships (including 5 submarines, 2 frigates, 1 corvette, 5 missile boats) and about 14,300 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish Navy is ORP (Ship of the Polish Republic).

The Polish Navy is one of the bigger navies on the Baltic Sea. It is mostly responsible for Baltic Sea operations. Other duties include search and rescue operations covering parts of the Baltic, as well as hydrographic measurements and research.

The Polish Navy is organized into 2 separate flotillas, and a Naval Air Arm. This is the flag of the Naval Air Arm of the Polish Navy. The Naval Air Force consists mainly of a wide variety of specialized helicopters. They include anti-submarine helicopters, utility helicopters, gunships, transport helicopters, close-combat support helicopters, and command helicopters. They also maintain a number fixed wing patrol and cargo planes.

This is the flag used by auxiliary vessels of the Polish Navy. An auxiliary ship is a naval ship which is designed to supporting combat ships and other naval operations. Auxiliaries are not primary combatants, although they may have some limited combat capacity, usually of a self-defensive nature.

The Polish Army, or more properly, the Polish Land Forces (Wojska Ladowe - RP) are a branch of Poland's Armed Forces. During World War II there were two Polish armies, the First Army and the Second Army that fought with the Red Army on the Eastern Front, and after the war their Soviet overlords build up the Polish army to form part of the Warsaw Pact defense against a possible attack from NATO's Allied Forces in Central Europe.

Polish Special Forces (Wojska Specjalne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) are the 4th branch of Polish Armed Forces formed in early 2007. They are composed of 3 special units and the Special Forces Command called GROM (Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno Manewrowego) which is based in Warsaw. These troops can be and are deployed in a variety of special operations and unconventional warfare roles, including anti-terrorist actions and projection of power behind enemy lines.

GROM, an acronym meaning "thunderbolt," is the primary special forces unit of the Polish Land Forces. It was officially activated in 1990. It is deployed in a variety of special operations and unconventional warfare roles, including anti-terrorist actions and working behind enemy lines. It is recognized as one of the best commando-type Special Forces unit in the world.

The Air Forces of the Polish Republic (Sily Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Sily Powietrzne RP) is the air force branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until 2004, it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej (Air and Air Defence Forces). It consists of 17,000 officers and enlisted personnel, distributed among 12 bases throughout Poland. Since 1918 the insignia on Polish Air Force aircraft is a white and red checkerboard, but in 1993 its order of colors was inverted.

According to the National Defense Minister this Air Force flag was made official in 1996. This is the flag of the airports (of the landing grounds) of the military forces. The "rondel" is called the Air Force chess board. This flag flies and must be lowered near the commanding office of the permanent and provisory military airports and landing grounds.

There is also a similar flag for navy air ports and landing grounds. It is the same, but has a white anchor under the chessboard on the red stripe. The anchor has a white rope with it. This flag flies near the commanding offices of any permanent or provisory airports (landing grounds) of the navy.

In 2002, the new, post-communist left-wing government reorganized the special services by dividing them into two agencies; the Internal Security Agency (Agencja Bezpieczenstwa Wewnetrznego) and Intelligence Agency (Agencja Wywiadu). The move was widely perceived as a way of cleansing the higher ranks of the officers appointed by previous right-wing governments.

This is the newest flag of the Polish military intelligence agency Wojskowe Sluzby Informacyjne (Military Information Services) whose services date back to before World War II. The new Polish conservative government declared dissolution of the WSI and creating new services in October 2005, since the agency skipped serious external reforms after the collapse of communism in 1989. Throughout the transformation the WSI were allegedly involved in dubious operations, arms sales to UN-sanctioned states and corruption scandals. In 2006 the WSI was split into Sluzba Kontrwywiadu Wojskowego and Sluzba Wywiadu Wojskowego.

The Polish military Intelligence (2nd Section of the General Staff) seldom gets credit for its important and historic work during World War II. They were responcible for breaking the Enigma Code which allowed the Allies to read the German and Japanese secret messages throughout the war. Winston Churchill remarked to King George VI in 1945 that "without breaking the Enigma (code) it wouldn't be possible for us to win this war," and General Eisenhower, also in 1945, called the breaking of Enigma (code) the "decisive factor in winning the war."

In July of 2010, this flag was adopted for use by the Commander (Chief) of the Military Gendarmerie (Police) of the armed forces of the Republic of Poland. This flag is used in all Polish Military Police Headquarters and in the office of the Military Commander (Chief of Military Police) himself.

These are the banners of other multinational units organized by Poland for the participation in NATO operations in the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Kosovo).

Nato Multinational Corps Northeastern Flag
Szczecin Headquarters

The second pillar of Poland's security is its membership in NATO. The first multinational unit of NATO is located in Szczecin and composed of German, Danish and Polish forces whose mission is to defend the Baltic Sea region. It is know as the Headquarters of the Allied Multinational Corps Northeast (MNE HQ). Poland participated in all NATO actions, from the former Yugoslavia to Afghanistan, and plays an active role in the pact being also one of the staunchest supporters of admittance of the Ukraine and Georgia, which it considers crucial to its own security as well.

LITPOLBAT (Lithuanian) Standard		LITPOLBAT (Polish) Standard

This was the flag used by Polish military forces, both navy and special forces, who participated in Operation Desert Storm in 2001 in Iraq.

Presently, the Polish forces are responsible for Ghazni and part of Patika provinces. They number 2,000 with the additional 1,000 soldiers coming in early 2010, making it one of the largest contributors of troops. Polish forces, although the part of it, are not under NATO command, but rather under direct American command. Besides that, an undisclosed number of the Special Forces operatives of GROM are there with the Americans. As of December 2009, the Poles lost 16 soldiers in combat.

The Association of Veterans of UN Peacekeeping Missions was founded in October of 1998. Citizens of the Polish Republic have for many years been involved in peacekeeping missions, stabilization and humanitarian efforts worldwide conducted under the aegis of the United Nations. This association flag honors all those Polish veterans participating in those peace keeping missions for the United Nations.

The "flaga Policji" (Police Flag) is flag for National State Police of Poland Policja is the generic name for the police in Poland. The Polish police force was known as policja throughout the Second Polish Republic (1918–1939), and in modern post-communist Republic of Poland since 1990. Its current size is 103.309 officers and 12.000 civilian employees.

This ensign is flown by police vessels patrolling the waterways, rivers, canals, and lakes of Poland by vessels belonging to the National State Police Force.

The third pillar of Poland's security is the European Union, and while their membership is considered important, the alliance with the United States is predominant, and the ties with NATO ranks higher.