21 August 1750, Fragment of initial with arms of Old Warsaw on a document of the Polish king August III confirming the city's rights and privileges.

21 August 1750, Fragment of a document of the Polish king August III, confirming the privileges of Old Warsaw, with an image of the emblem of the city, a mermaid holding a shield with the arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic.

4 October 1806, Imprint of seal with arms of Warsaw on a document conferring civil rights on Jan Rogalski.

In 1938 a new pattern for the arms was introduced, designed by Szczęsny Kwarta, which was changed in 1967 and then restored by resolution of the City Council of Warsaw on 15 August 1990. The arms present, in the field of a red shield, the figure of a woman with a fish's tail turned to the right, lifting a sword in her right hand and a round shield in her left hand. The body and tail are a natural color, and the hair, sword and shield are gold. Above the coat of arms is a royal crown.

In comparing the chronological images of the mermaid, we may observe how the emblem evolved over the centuries from a half-monstrous figure, variously identified, to a beautiful woman with a fish's tail. Despite the changing image of the mermaid herself, two accompanying attributes are unchanging, the sword and the shield, emphasizing the defensive character of the city. Presenting half of the figure as a fish symbolized the city's location on the river, flowing to the sea and connecting the city to the wider world.

The mermaid was also used as a symbol of city ownership as well as a popular Warsaw motif. The origin of the legendary figure is not fully known. Tellers of many stories and legends have tried to explain where she came from.

The best-known legend, by Artur Oppman, is that Warsaw fishermen caught a mermaid in their net who sang beautifully. At the foot of today's Old Town, she left the water to rest on the sandy shore, and she so liked the place that she decided to stay. Soon the fishermen noticed that during their fishing someone was churning the waves of the Vistula, tangling the nets and releasing the fish. But the mermaid enchanted them with her beautiful singing, and they did not harm her. One day a wealthy merchant saw the mermaid and her lovely song. He quickly calculated how much money he could make if he captured the mermaid and displayed her at market fairs. He tricked the mermaid, seized her and imprisoned her in a wooden shed without any water. A young farmhand heard the mermaid's cries, and with the help of friends he freed her at night. Grateful that the townspeople had defended her, the mermaid promised that she would help them in time of need. This is why the Warsaw Mermaid is armed: She bears a sword and a shield to defend the city.

Among the lesser-known legends is the one written by Maria Krüger entitled "The Noble Griffin and the Beautiful Mermaid." According to the legend, the security of the medieval city of Warsaw was guarded by a manly and noble Griffin. When he once took a journey with the river boatmen to the Baltic, he met a beautiful Mermaid. They fell deeply in love and the Mermaid swam with them back to Warsaw. From then on, they both watched over the townspeople. When the Swedes attacked Warsaw, the valiant Griffin was treacherously wounded by the enemy and shortly died, and his companion, the brave Mermaid, seized sword and shield and courageously fought in defense of the city. Grateful residents of the city on the Vistula were smitten with her and placed her image on the arms of their city.

4 October 1806, Vignette presenting the Prussian eagle holding in its beak a medallion with a mermaid, from a document conferring civil rights on Jan Rogalski.	2 May 1817, Vignette with the emblem of the Kingdom of Poland (Russian two-headed eagle with a shield on its breast with the crowned Polish eagle) and the mermaid, from a document conferring civil rights on Teodor Blume.	31 January 1938, Official pattern of the coat of arms as designed by Szczęsny Kwarta.

References:

1. Encyklopedia Warszawy [Encyclopedia of Warsaw], Warsaw 1994.
2. Gumowski M., Herby miast polskich [Arms of Polish Cities], Warsaw 1960.
3. Kuczyński S. K., Herb Warszawy [Arms of Warsaw], Warsaw 1977.
4. Kuczyński S. K., Syrena warszawska [The Warsaw Mermaid], Warsaw 1991.
5. Grochowska M., Syrenka - odwieczny symbol Warszawy [Mermaid, Eternal Symbol of Warsaw], Warsaw 1999.
6. Plewko A., Wanag J., Herbarz miast polskich [Arms of Polish Cities], Warsaw 1994.
7. Przywileje królewskie miasta stołecznego Starej Warszawy 1376-1772 [Royal Privileges of Old Warsaw], ed. T. Wierzbowski, Warsaw 1913.
8. Wejnert A., Starożytności warszawskie [Warsaw Antiquities], Warsaw 1847, vol. 1 pp. 5-31.

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