The coat of arms of Bielsko-Biała is one of the city's four symbols, alongside the flag, logo, and bugle call. It was officially established on 7 December 2004 by Resolution No. XXXVII/1189/2004 of the City Council in Bielsko-Biała.
This coat of arms developed following the merger of and Bielsko in 1951 and is one of the few in municipal heraldry to feature two escutcheons. Such a composition is exceptionally permitted only when a city is formed by merging two separate cities with distinct coats of arms deeply rooted in tradition.
Appearance The coat of arms features two escutcheons. In the right, vertically divided escutcheon, the right blue field contains a golden (yellow) half-eagle facing right, without a crown, while the left red field contains three individual white (silver) heraldic lilies arranged vertically. In the second escutcheon, on a green field, there are two red five-petaled roses arranged horizontally.
Symbolism The right escutcheon represents the historical coat of arms of Bielsko, while the left escutcheon represents the historical coat of arms of .
Coat of arms of Bielsko
Eagle
The right section of the vertically divided escutcheon contains half of the emblem of the Dukes of Cieszyn – an eagle depicted in a heraldic arrangement, with its head facing right.
Ideologically, the eagle of the Dukes of Cieszyn, directly derived from the Piast eagle, represents a typical feudal motif – the sovereign secular authority of the duke over a given territory, as well as the property relations prevailing during the era of the coat of arms' creation. It symbolizes the complete subordination of the town of Bielsko to the Duke of Cieszyn and, more broadly, to a representative of the Piast dynasty.
The colors – a golden eagle on a blue or azure field – have their origins in French heraldry. Gold signifies the power, dignity, and nobility of the eagle's owner, symbolizing royal or ducal majesty. In combination with gold, blue denotes sovereignty and independence, order, as well as virtues desirable in the chivalric ethos – loyalty and steadfastness of the family adopting this color. Additionally, blue was traditionally associated with Mary.
The eagle likely changed its appearance over the years, but it did not incorporate the heraldic element introduced to the emblem of the Dukes of Cieszyn during the reign of Casimir II – the crown.
Lilies
Three white (silver) lilies arranged vertically on a red field are a modified version of the emblem of the Bishops of Wrocław.
The shape of the lilies, a typical and widespread heraldic symbol found in many European coats of arms, changed frequently during the 14th and 15th centuries. However, they always featured three petals connected by a small band. Lilies are among the oldest European graphic and symbolic signs, originating from ancient Greece. In medieval symbolism, they were – alongside the cross – one of the most important symbols of the church, representing Mary and John the Baptist, the patron of the Wrocław Cathedral. Therefore, adopting this symbol by the Bishops of Wrocław was entirely natural.
The colors of the coat of arms of the Bishops of Wrocław are known from sources dating back to the 14th century. The white color of the lilies is one of the most important colors in Christianity, symbolizing light, purity, and above all, the eternal glory of God and the church. The red field of the episcopal emblem is closely connected to the lily, and thus to the church's and Christian symbolism. It represents the blood of Christ. Therefore, the left half of the coat of arms of Bielsko reflects, in a deeper sense, the most important truths of the Christian faith related to Christ and Mary, connecting the city with all of Christianity.
Coat of arms of Biała
The left escutcheon, representing the coat of arms of Biała, features two red, five-petaled roses on a green field.
The rose was a common heraldic symbol in European and Polish coats of arms. Despite the late creation of this particular coat of arms, in an era already influenced by certain ahistorical heraldic practices, it still possesses a clear symbolism.
In the chronicle of Biała, written by Wacław Chamrat around 1813, the meaning of the city's coat of arms is explained as follows: "The coat of arms with two red roses on a green field, which at the time had its meaningful significance, symbolized that the town of Biała – where the market square still had green crops like those in foreign fields at that time – should grow just as a pair of young roses on a green field".
In heraldic symbolism, this coat of arms can be interpreted in two ways: either in a Christianizing sense or according to the Baroque-Sarmatian style. In the first interpretation, the red rose symbolizes martyrdom and the blood of Christ in its aspect of Redemption, a foreshadowing of humanity's happiness. Green, on the other hand, symbolizes hope for God's mercy and the promise of eternal life. The second interpretation refers to a foretelling of prosperity and happiness for the young town and its "young" citizens, achievable through daily work and great effort in striving towards God.
History
Coat of arms of Bielsko
Bielsko was founded at the end of the 13th century (probably during a wave of settlement between 1285 and 1300 organized by the Duke of Cieszyn, Mieszko I) and, from its inception until the mid-16th century, belonged to the Duchy of Cieszyn. The first written mention of the city dates back to 1312; however, it was not until 1424 that the city became fully self-governing, when Bolesław I granted renewed municipal rights. At that time, the local authorities were required to have a proprietary seal, which was used, among other things, on the city seal.
The first preserved impression of the city seal comes from a document issued in 1542. It was made in the Gothic style and has a diameter of 40 mm. The seal depicts Saint Nicholas (the city's patron saint) seated on a throne in pontifical attire, wearing a mitre and holding a crozier, with a halo around his head. His legs are obscured by a stylized two-part escutcheon (split vertically). In the right section of the escutcheon is half of a heraldic eagle with three large feathers in its wing (symbolizing the Dukes of Cieszyn), while in the left section are three fleurs-de-lis arranged vertically (a modified version of the coat of arms of the Bishops of Wrocław). This is a typical coat of arms composed of a escutcheon and an ordinary, containing characteristic medieval symbols for cities: the patron saint and symbols referring to the rulers. This seal was likely used until the end of the Piast rule, which ended in 1572, when the Duchy of Bielsko was created, governed by the noble families of Promnitz, Schaffgotsch, and Sunnegh.
The appearance of the coat of arms of Bielsko in the 15th and 16th century is also known thanks to a glazed stove tile with a green coating, measuring 19.5 × 21 cm, discovered in 1900 and now housed in the Historical Museum of Kraków. The tile depicts the coat of arms, with half of the eagle (with the head slightly turned to the left and a large wing reaching the height of the head with three large feathers) in the right section of the Gothic escutcheon, and three stylized lilies with bent upper petals in the left section. Unlike the coat of arms on the seal, there is no image of St. Nicholas. , who studied the history of the coat of arms of Bielsko-Biała in the first half of the 20th century, based on historical sources – a Latin text by Andreas Perstenius from 1608, Sacra ac debita templi movi inauguratis published by Pastor Lucas Wencelius in 1610, and the 18th-century chronicle of Ernst Otipka – concluded that the coat of arms is older than the 15th century and was granted at the time of the city's founding.
The next city seals, a large one with a diameter of 42 mm and a small one with a diameter of 25 mm, dating from the late 16th century and used until around the mid-17th century, feature identical heraldic representations: St. Nicholas standing, facing forward without a halo, the bishop's lilies depicted in a rather ascetic, "sketchy" style, and the eagle with its head turned to the right and five large feathers in its wing. The coat of arms of Bielsko in the work of Pastor Lucas Wencelius, Sacra ac debita templi movi inauguratis from 1610, shows a Renaissance style. On this version, as well as on seals from the 18th century, the eagle's head is turned to the right, resembling the half double-headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire's coat of arms. However, there were no changes to the coat of arms colors or the lilies, and the crown did not appear.
Significant modifications were made to the medieval coat of arms in the 1833 trade escutcheon. The eagle is unnaturally tilted above its wings and has a long tongue, while the lilies resemble two connected letters "W". However, the heraldic colors were preserved: a golden eagle on a dark blue field, silver lilies on a red field, and a colorful depiction of St. Nicholas.
In 1848, the Bielsko city council passed a resolution to remove the figure of St. Nicholas, the city's patron, from the coat of arms. The resulting city seals, including those of the city council (35 mm) and the mayor (33 mm), only feature the escutcheon with highly curved shapes, adorned with a flower at the top and two branches at the bottom. At the same time, seals without any coat of arms began to appear. In the 1869 municipal statute granted to Bielsko by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, there is no mention of the coat of arms, signaling that the city's coat of arms had lost its original significance.
At the same time, in the second half of the 19th century, the first heraldic works on the coat of arms of Bielsko began to appear, which presented various, often ahistorical and inconsistent versions of the coat of arms. In the 1864 Stadtwappen der Österreichischen Kaiserstädte by V. R. Widimski, a completely irregular escutcheon is shown, with an eagle (referred to by the author as "Polish") on a blue field. The eagle is silver, with its head turned, a red tongue, golden beak and claws, and a golden crescent with half a cross, ending in a cloverleaf on the wing. H. Saurma von Jeltsch, in Wappenbuch der Schlesischen Städte und Stadtteile (1870), provides a more accurate representation of the coat of arms of Bielsko, showing a half-golden "Upper Silesian" eagle on a blue field and three silver lilies on a red field, but with a tilted head and a Gothic-style cartouche. In J. Siebmacher's Großes und Allgemeines Wappenbuch from 1885, the eagle from Widimski's work can be seen, referred to as "Polish", but without the cross on the chest, with a golden tongue, and featuring the figure of St. Nicholas.
The most faithful heraldic depiction comes from H. G. Ströhl's Stadtwappen von Österreich-Ungarn (1904) – a yellow "Upper Silesian" eagle in a Renaissance style, with a tilted head, red beak, tongue, and claws, closely resembling the version from the time of Casimir II (late 15th century). The conflicting depictions of the coat of arms in the works of heraldists caused additional confusion, as municipal authorities also used various incorrect versions.
Around 1900, on the mayor's stationery of Bielsko, another version of the black eagle appeared – with a tilted head, a silver crescent, and a cross on its chest (still on a blue field). This version, clearly referencing the coat of arms of the Prussian Province of Silesia and the coat of arms of Silesia, remained in use until 1923. At that time, the Polish provincial authorities (the city council was dominated by the German population) led to the restoration of the golden eagle (in order to "shed the imperial and German influence").