Kotwica painted on one of the monuments in Warsaw by the Szare Szeregi Kotwica (Polish anchor) was the symbol of the Polish Secret State and the Armia Krajowa during World War II. It was created in 1942 by the members of the Wawer "Small Sabotage" unit of the Armia Krajowa as an easily-usable symbol of the Polish struggle for independence. The symbol is a mixture of the letters PW, which stand both for Polska Walcząca (Fighting Poland) and Wojsko Polskie (Polish Army).
 Flag of Poland with the kotwica symbol It was first painted on the walls of Warsaw by the juvenile boy-scouts on March 20, 1942, as part of a psychological war with the occupying German forces. On June 27, 1942, a new tradition was born: to commemorate the name-day of president Władysław Raczkiewicz and Commander-in-Chief Władysław Sikorski, the members of the Armia Krajowa marked several hundred copies of the German-backed propaganda newspaper Nowy Kurier Warszawski with the Kotwica symbol. Initially only 500 prints were stamped, but the following year the number reached 7,000.
On February 18, 1943, the commander of the Armia Krajowa, general Stefan Rowecki, issued an order demanding that all sabotage, partisan and terrorist actions be signed with the Kotwica. On February 25, the official organ of the Armia Krajowa, Biuletyn Informacyjny, called the Kotwica "the sign of the underground Polish Army". Soon the symbol gained enormous popularity and became recognized by most Poles. During the later stages of the war, most of the political and military organizations in Poland (even those not related to Armia Krajowa) adopted it as their symbol. It was painted on the walls of Polish cities, stamped on German banknotes and post stamps, printed in the headers of the underground newspapers and books, and it became one of the symbols of the Warsaw Uprising.
After the war the communist authorities of Poland banned the symbol. It was used by most associations of former Armia Krajowa members in exile, yet its use was strictly prohibited in Poland. As the communist grip weakened, the symbol was no longer censored, and in 1976 it became one of the symbols of ROPCiO, an anti-communist organization defending human rights in Poland. Later it was also adopted by various other political organizations, ranging from the far-right KPN of Leszek Moczulski to the far-left Solidarność Walcząca.
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