The mermaid (syrenka) is Warsaw's symbol and can be found on statues throughout the city and on the city's coat of arms. This imagery has been in use since at least the mid-14th century. The oldest existing armed seal of Warsaw is from the year 1390, consisting of a round seal bordered with the Latin inscription Sigilium Civitatis Varsoviensis (Seal of the city of Warsaw). 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:
What does the sea monster with a female upper body hold in its claws?
a sword sword sword
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.
City records as far back as sixteen oh nine document the use of a crude form of a sea monster with a female upper body and holding a sword in its claws.
What does the sea monster with a female upper body hold in its claws?