National identity means a shared sense of belonging to a nation that connects individuals through many aspects. It can be history, culture, symbols, language, institutions, and collective memories among each individuals that is being taught. It creates the meaningful things, the symbols, that the country or nation is representing, giving the framework for the people in the rest of the world to understand who the nation is, learning the country like meeting a person. The concept of the national identity of a nation is constantly changing or reshaped over time due to many impactful events.
As Triandafyllidou argues, national identity is formed through a dual process: the creation of internal combination and the separation between the nation and the “others,” the significant other nations that may be somewhat similar or different from “us.” The process of creating a national identity is the process of compare and contrast between the “self” and “other”, which eventually becomes the representations that we see in nowadays for each nation, even with the possible internal “other” from the nation. Therefore, national identity is relational and dynamic, shaped by both shared internal features and processes of exclusion.
Poland’s Story: Faith, Struggle, and Survival
For Poland, the national identity is shaped by history that involves with foreign domination, resistance, and moral struggle. There is four central aspects that structured Polish national identity: Catholicism, historical memory of times from occupation and being resistance during the suffering periods, national symbols and moral figures, and an emphasis on linguistic and cultural homogeneity; each of these contains a leveled of compare and contrast with the “others” that led the nation for structuring its identity that we can see nowadays when we are trying to picture the nation.
The Catholic Heart of Poland
In Poland, religion like Catholicism works differently than many other countries; it is not just a personal belief, but it is the most fundamental part of Poland’s national identity. Every Polish in Poland is in separable from it (Hejwosz-Gromkowska & Hildebrandt-Wypych, 2024).
During the long history of Poland under foreign control, forces like Protestant Prussia, Orthodox Russia, and eventually the atheist communist government has put Poland under times of suffering. Catholic Church stood as a moral authority and a protector of nations’ values, especially during the communist era and the Solidarity movement, as what the Polish history textbooks has portrayed the Church as even until today. With these, the symbols and religious figures are used to create an image of the nation is rooted in moral righteousness and sacrifice. As a result, Catholicism is not only a religious tradition but also a cultural identity that helps define what it means to be Polish; this connection reinforces the image of Poland as a morally guided nation shaped by faith.
The History that’s Written in Resistance
Poland’s history is full of resistance and suffering. Events like the partitions, World War II, and the communist ruling for decades had allowed Poland to create a strong endurance and unity that we can see from the rest of the world today. Among these events, the Solidarity movement stands out the most, it is when Polish people came together against oppression, making it not only a political movement, but also a powerful demonstration of national unity in action to the rest of the world (Hejwosz-Gromkowska & Hildebrandt-Wypych, 2024).
Turning our attention from the majority to the minority in Poland. There is a group called the Silesians, researchers studying ethnoregionalism have found that they have different history than the majority of Poland (Muś et al., 2023). This group has been constantly moving around and changing alliance relationship throughout the past before merging into the Poland that we know today. From this, we know that the Polish national identity is built on selective history that can summarized and unifies the nation the most, rather than balancing the minority and majority.
Heroes and Symbols
From the combination of the religion and history of Poland, the narrative of suffering and resistance gets reinforced with the figure and the national symbols throughout the time being. Pope John Paul II and Father Jerzy Poieluszko stand out as examples, they are treated as national heroes whose religious authority blended with political and moral leadership (Hejwosz-Gromkowska & Hildebrandt-Wypych, 2024). The sacrifices act as national devotion, strengthening the idea of Poland being defined by moral strength and endurance. From the historical figures and what they did, it identity of the nation more realistic and traceable. Together, with the figures, the cross, the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, and the white-and-red national flag creates a shared symbolic language that ties faith, history, and nation together. It evokes the emotional attachment of the people to the nation. To the Polish people, these symbols and figures means what it is to be Polish; To the rest of the world, these shows unity and resilience of the nation, which is created by shared values and history that the people of the nation hold.
One Language, One Culture
The desire of unity in language and culture among the nation plays a major role in Poland’s national identity as well as the other aspects. Research on ethnoregionalism shows that Poland thinks it is important on having one national language as the foundation of unity (Muś et al., 2023). The nation will try to resist the statements on Silesians being different from the majority of the nation, seeing them as a distinct group is a threat to the unity that the nation is trying to hold. Rather than recognizing the group, the unity image is held by laws, policies, and the broader narrative saying that it is a broader framework of being Polish. This revels Poland’s preference for cultural unity over pluralism.
“Us” Against “Them”, What it means?
Triandafyllidou’s framework on how a nation defines itself helps explain how these elements created the national identity that we see today for Poland. The external significant others, Germany and Russia, have helped Poland in maintaining national cohesion through narratives of resistance and survival. The internal significant other, Silesians, has helped Poland in maintaining the national unity through the demand of recognition (Muś et al., 2023).
After everything that has happened to Poland, the national identity of this nation has shaped by Catholicism in all the people’s heart, collective memories of suffering and resistance, powerful national symbols of moral figures, and a strong desire on linguistic and cultural unity. These aspects have been shaped by both external and internal others, providing a vision of the nation centers unity, resilience, and righteousness.
References
Dybel, P. (n.d.). The roots of polish national identity. The Roots of Polish National Identity. http://info-poland.icm.edu.pl/classroom/roots.html
Hejwosz-Gromkowska, D., & Hildebrandt-Wypych, D. (2024). Religion, church, national identity, and the solidarity movement in school history textbooks in Poland. British Journal of Religious Education, 46(2), 212–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2023.2278441
Kulaga, A., & Wilson, J. (2025, September 9). Poland’s story of identity: Heroes, memory, and meaning. Folkways Today. https://folkways.today/polish-identity/
Muś, A., Jakubowski, T., Kijonka, J., & Sarna, P. (2023). Where Ethnoregionalism and Nationalism Meet: A Struggle for Recognition and a Clash of Identities. International Journal on Minority & Group Rights, 30(2), 226–253. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718115-bja10091
Oleksiak, W. (n.d.). Being Polish: Myths & reality check | article | culture.pl. culture.pl. https://culture.pl/en/article/being-polish-myths-and-reality-check
Sagers, J. (2025, June 30). Polish national identity in crisis. USU. https://artsci.usu.edu/social-sciences/political-science/international-studies/aggies-go/news/poland_catholicchurch
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