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Slawno county (Poland)

Powiat Sławieński, Zachodniopomorskie vojvodship

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image by Jarig Bakker, 9 Mar 2008

Sławno county broad flag
Sławno county flag
Sławno county CoA

Other Slawno pages:

See also:

Sławno county broad flag

Sławno county (Powiat Sławieński), Zachodniopomorskie vojvodship, consists of the communes (gminy) Darlowo, Malechowo, Postomino, Sławno city, Sławno commune.
On the website of Sławno county is a photo of a meeting of Slawno dignitaries with there colleagues from Klodzko at the county's website, holding a flag with
three vertical stripes of red and white, with in the center the county arms.
Jarig Bakker, 9 Mar 2008

That is the correct flag. See the law about the flag (.pdf file, 4,5 MB).
The square flag is the flag of the president of the county council (Starosta), and in similar form also the standard (obverse) of the County.
Jens Pattke, 22 Mar 2008

Sławno county flag

image by Jarig Bakker, 9 Mar 2008

Here is the flag of Slawno County. The flag is a Banner of Arms, ratio 1:1.
The Sławno county arms and flag is derived from the Slawno city (German: Schlawe) CoA - info:
"Schlawe was founded as a Polish village, but received its German name and city rights in 1317. The oldest seal of the city dates from the same time and shows only a sea-griffin (an eagle with a fish tail). The sea-griffin was the arms of the Swenzo-family that ruled the city. A second seal, dating from the mid 14th century shows the sea-griffin with the Wipper river, and the chequered diamond. The meaning or origin of the latter is not known. All later seals show the same composition, which was placed in a shield in the 19th century.
Literature: Hupp, O: Königreich Preussen. Wappen der Städte, Flecken und Dörfer. Reprint von 1896 und 1898. Kulturstiftung der deutschen Vertriebenen, Bonn, 1993."
Source: Ralf Hartemink's site.
Jens Pattke, 30 Mar 2002

I have taken an image from wikipedia to make the image a bit clearer: red square flag with a white sea-griffin, holding a checky yellow and blue chessboard.
Jarig Bakker, 9 Mar 2008

The "chessboard" is only 8 X 7.
It'd be interesting to know the significance of that...
Lewis A. Nowitz, 16 Mar 2008

Flag and CoA are derived from the ones of the city of Slawno, which in its turn derive from a seal dated 1352, equally with an incomplete chessboard, see here - I don't know whether an explanation is given; perhaps it's not a chessboard at all...
Jarig Bakker, 16 Mar 2008

Yes it is chessboard, but I can't understand the whole text. Something like the symbol of the place where the flame came from.
Valentin Poposki, 16 Mar 2008

As many of the towns in the region received the municipal rights from the Pomeranian nobles, the arms bestowed upon them carried the most common symbol of the local nobility - the fish-catching sea-griffin.
To differentiate among them, some other devices were gradually added to their arms.
German heraldist Otto Hupp, who discovered the 1352 seal of Slawno, speculates the "chessboard" represents the town's defensive walls.
Polish heraldist, M.Gumowski, doesn't dispute that and recalls other towns in Pomerania which supplemented their griffins with distinguishing them devices like Świnoujście (anchor) or Słupsk (waves).
The number of squares in the "chessboard" changed from time to time in the seal, and there is no detailed explanation for that.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 17 Mar 2008

Sławno county CoA

image from this website.