Grzegorz Studnicki

“Is Our Eagle White or Golden?” Some Thoughts on Disputes over Commemoration and Promotion of the Duchy of Cieszyn

The article is focused on the discussion accompanying the reconstruction of the flag of the Duchy of Cieszyn. According to the plan of the initiators of the mentioned project, this act should help to create a touristic brand called “Duchy of Cieszyn”. The flag was supposed to help in the process of promoting the Cieszyn Silesia as an attractive touristic region. A couple of days after the flag was presented, the authors of the idea had to face the accusation that they supported the Silesian separatist tendencies which are associated with the Silesian Autonomy Movement [Ruch Autonomii Śląska – RAŚ]. The article presents the arguments of both sides: the critics and initiators of the reconstructed flag. It tries to show the sources of the disputes and narrations of each of the opponents. In the middle of these arguments there are different points of view on the region and its past. They are linked with the different identity and experience of the regional past. The article also focuses e.g., on tensions between identities built around the categories of Cieszyn Silesia and Podbeskidzie which is the unofficial name of the area on the borderland between the historical regions of Lesser Poland [Małopolska] and Cieszyn Silesia. Essentially, the identity of the inhabitants of Podbeskidzie has started to develop after World War II. On the one hand it is linked with the process of cultural forgetting, on the other hand the inhabitants have various experiences of the past. The article also tries to present the opinions of a couple of representants of the Polish minority in Zaolzie [Trans-Olza] in the Czech Republic regarding the reconstruction of the Duchy of Cieszyn flag. In general, the article focuses on conflicts of memory as well as tensions between local / regional and national perspectives.