The flag of Greater Poland Voivodeship.
Meaning[]
The flag and coat of arms of Wielkopolskie Voivodeship, designed by Jerzy Bąk, were established by Council of Voivodeship (Sejmik Województwa) 31 January 2000. Uncrowned white eagle on red field is traditional COA of Wielkopolska region. Eagle on flag and COA is patterned after sigillum of King Przemysł II from 1295. Przemysł II (1257-1296) was a member of Piast Dynasty and Duke of Wielkopolska since 1277. That was period of feudal partition of Poland. Przemysł II united under his rule Wielkopolska and East Pomerania in 1294. In 1295 he was crowned in Gniezno as King of Poland - first crowned ruler of Poland since more then two hundred years. Assassinated by Brandenburgans in 1296, Przemysł II remains a person symbolizing the state-building role of Wielkopolska region and the contribution of Wielkopolska into restoration the Kingdom of Poland. He was also the last ruler of Poland residing in Wielkopolska - after his death, the political centre of Poland moved to Cracow. Trapezial shape of flag is patterned after XVI Century banners of Polish lands.
Law of the flag[]
The Sejmik of the Wielkopolska Region establishes the coat of arms of the Wielkopolska Region, which shows a silver eagle with a golden band on its wings, golden beak turned right, golden legs and golden ring on its tailfeathers, against a red background within a Medieval triangle coat of arms. An illustration of the coat of arms constitutes an appendix to this resolution.
The Sejmik of the Wielkopolska Region establishes the flag of the Wielkopolska Region, which is fabric in a trapezoidal form with 5 : 11 proportions; its right part is a square of 5 : 5 proportions, in red, and includes the image of an eagle as described in § 1; its left part is a trapezoid of 5 : 6 proportion, in white, the top edge is in the proportion of 1 : 2 to the bottom edge. An illustration of the flag constitutes an appendix to this resolution.
The Board of the Wielkopolska Region shall be responsible for the execution of this resolution. The resolution comes into force as of the day of its passing.
GROUNDS
Since the Wielkopolska Region has been created as a separate entity and the Sejmik of the Wielkopolska Region has the competence to establish by force of a resolution its own coat of arms, flag and other symbols of the Region. Such a will was expressed in the resolution of the Sejmik of the Wielkopolska Region on 29 March 1999.
The submitted proposals of the coat of arms and the flag were approved by the Commission of Culture and Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Regional Sejmik and on 20 September 1999 they were presented to the minister responsible for public administration. Although there was no such statutory requirement, the proposals of the coat of arms and the flag were also presented to the Heraldry Commission, established by force of the Ordinance of the Ministers' Council (Journal of Laws No. 70 of 27 July 1999, item 779).
What does the name mean?[]
Wielkopolska/Małopolska are best translated into Latin using the nomenclature Polonia Major/Polonia Minor. That gives you the best feel for it. However, there is a distinction between Wielkopolska and Wielkopolskie, as with some of the other regional names. The word Wielkopolskie is an adjective, with the word "Wojewodztwo" (voivodeship/province) implied. Indeed, Polish has quite a few cases of implied nouns, e.g. "Ide do sklepu" - (I) am going to the shop.
Anyway, the reason this is an issue is that there are probably some areas which have historically thought of themselves, and been accepted as part of Wielkopolska, but have not necessarily ended up in Wojewodztwo Wielkopolskie.