Kotwica is the Polish word for Anchor. It’s a Polish symbol that became a Polish underground rallying point during World War II. It’s pictured here:
The symbol started as a stylized acronym for Pomścimy Wawer (“We shall avenge Wawer”). This was a reference to the Wawer massacre (26–27 December 1939), which was considered to be one of the first large scale massacres of Polish civilians by German troops in occupied Poland. It looks like an anchor, hence kowica. During the war it became a symbol for the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa), and a sign of the underground and underground activities. Many such activities were “signed” with the kotwica. Over time it came to symbolize the phrase Polska Walcząca (“Fighting Poland”), P-W.
Today it is also a symbol also used to remember the Warsaw Uprising which ended 71 years ago, on October 2nd, 1944. Today it stands for, among other things P-W, remember Warsaw (pamiętacie warszawa) and also for the Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego, the Warsaw Uprising Museum, which i had the good fortune to visit in 2011.
