It seems strange that Warsaw should adopt a mermaid as its symbol, as it is situated over 300km (200 miles) from the closest sea coast. Nevertheless, city records as far back as 1609 document the use of a crude form of a sea monster with a female upper body and holding a sword in its claws. In 1653 the poet Zygmunt Laukowski asks the question
    Warsaw of strong walls; why was the emblem
    Mermaid with sharp sword, given you by the kings?

The emblem gradually evolved into the present day form. It appears on a shield on every municipal building, on buses, trams and taxis. Needless to say, during 50 years of communist rule, the crown was removed from the "Syrena" and also from the national emblem - the White Eagle.

The people of Warsaw are proud of their symbol, which appears in many art forms, as the one on the left from the weekly magazine "Tygodnik Ilustrowany" in 1900. But however presented, the mermaid is always shown with sword in hand to indicate the fighting spirit of the citizens. Indeed, the people of Warsaw rebelled several times in the 19th.century against the Russian occupiers of the time.
In recent years, this spirit manifested itself in the continual struggle against the Nazis during World War II, culminating in the disastrous uprising of 1944 as a result of which the city was almost totally destroyed, and tens of thousands died. The maritime theme was also evident in the stylized PW symbol in the shape of an anchor that was scratched, painted, chalked on buildings, vehicles, signposts, throughout the five years of occupation. The PW stood for Polska Walczaca, "Poland Fights."