![[Puck city flag]](../images/p/pl-pm-pc.gif)
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image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 2 Nov 2008
The first actual Polish Navy was founded at the end of World War II
in 1918 with heavy French and British involvement.
In 1772, through the Partitions of Poland, the western Prussian town
was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia. After 1919 it was assigned
to the Second Polish Republic as part of the Polish Corridor by the Treaty
of Versailles. In 1920 Poland celebrated Poland's Wedding to the Sea in
Puck. Until 1939 Puck was the main war harbour of the Polish Navy and the
only Polish harbour until Gdynia was built in the 1920s. A branch of the
Stutthof concentration camp existed in Puck in the years 1941 to 1944.
After 1945 it became part of Poland again.
The adoption date of Arms and flag is nowhere to be found on the net
or in the maze of the documents.
It got to be before 2003, but the exact date and the resolution # remain
heavily guarded secrets.
"Arms: Coat of Arms of Puck is a historic seal of the city:
"History of Puck crest
Puck is proud of its unique crest. The motive of a lion holding a salmon
appeared in the 16th century. There are different versions of origin of
Puck crest. First of them suggests that king Karol Knutson Bonde, banished
from Sweden, received Puck for three years (1457-1460) and then added to
the crest a symbol of his country - a lion.
According to the second version, Puck as a village and later town was
in lien of Gdańsk and therefore Gdańsk added to its crest one of two lions
of its own crest. The older fishermen passed to next generations a beautiful
and interesting legend concerning Puck crest. Let today's youth know this
old fishermen's tale.
Two fish, eel and salmon, dreamt about being in the crest of the town.
Neither of them wanted to give up ambitious plans, so they started a deadly
fight. Salmon, having a bigger mouth, decided to eat the eel. The eel planned
to strangle the opponent, wrapping around its body. And one day this plan
almost worked out. Before the salmon noticed, the opponent had wrapped
around it and, although it did not manage to choke it completely, it made
it impossible to find food, sentencing the victim to slow death of starvation.
Thus, they were immobilised in a tragic tangle, looking at each other hatefully.
The salmon regretted its young life. He loved the sea and beauty of setting
sun, which as a ball of fire rolled into the sea depths. Suddenly, both
enemies heard sqeaking of rows, and they saw a shadow of fisherman's boat.
In the boat, besides a fisherman, there was also - strangely - a lion.
The town authorities destined it for the Puck crest, in order to emphasize
bravery of their town. This noble animal, noticing the advantage of the
eel over the half-dead salmon decided to reconcile the enemy fish.
Resorting to the trick, the lion proposed a company to the eel in these
words: I am destined for Puck crest. However, I believe that there are
others, wiser and braver than me, for instance you, eel. Therefore, I will
gladly share this honour with you. Approach and take place beside me in
the boat. The eel just waited for such a proposal, it let go of its victim
and, self-assured approached the boat. Then the lion pushed it aside with
disgust and asked the fisherman to go straight to the
shore. In the meantime liberated salmon was freely moving forward and
avoiding stones and shoals led the overseas guest to Puck harbour. And
then the lion brought him to the top of town hall and thus they both were
displayed on the crest." (city's website)
Flag: rectangular piece of cloth in the light-blue color. Arms are placed
in the middle of the flag. Ratio is 3:4."
Chrystian Kretowicz, 2 Nov 2008
![[Puck city coat of arms]](../images/p/pl-pm)pc.gif)
image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 2 Nov 2008
