Coat of arms
The image of the present coat of arms of Płock refers to the oldest seal of the town, dating back to the 14th century, known for a dozen or so impressions in a dark-green wax on documents and lists of the mayor and the council of Płock. It presents an embattled town wall with clearance; in the three-leaved form and over it a triangular top of the cathedral with the rosette crowned with a cross, on sides two two-storey towers, as if bound with cornices, with pointed roofs finished
The monumental publication the Towns of Poland in the Millennium (Volume II, Ossolineum 1967) included the image of the above coat of arms, so far valid. The coat of arms is a symbol and representative sign of the town. Its content refers to an ancient Płock cathedral and walls with open gate; symbolically, it combines rich history of the city with the present day. It has also its history, inseparably connected with the former town seals. On the drawings of the oldest seal from the late 14th century, archbishop Antoni J. Nowowiejski saw "a piece of ramparts with four crenelations, two high side donjons and a peak with a round window, ended with a cross". A more thorough analysis of the drawing allows to read its content in a slightly different manner: it presents the top of the cathedral with the rosette, crowned with a cross, and its two towers, also crowned with crosses, above embattled wall with an open gate with a three-leaved clearance.
In the 17th century, on seals the town symbols are more emphasized: a triangular top of the cathedral changes into a tower with a pointed roof, already without a cross, the motif of widely open gate returns. Bartosz Paprocki, author of the armorial published in Cracow in 1584, wrote that Płock, "bears, as a coat of arms, three towers in one gate", and the graphic of his work presented on the armorial disk three crenelated town donjons over a wall with crenelations and open gate with raised bars.
On seals from the 18th century there is a three-tower coat of arms of the towns with fragments of the town walls Board and open gate. In the Kingdom of Poland, on the seals of all cities national emblems were introduced instead of town coats of arms.
Only after the recovery of independence in 1918, the Polish towns returned to their old coats of arms. In Płock, on seals of local administration offices, the former coat of arms of the town was introduced, assuming the interpretation of archbishop Nowowiejski . In its future version - in connection with giving to Płock in 1921 the Cross of Valor - the bars in the town gate were raised, and in its clearance the image of this state decoration was placed.
A coat of arms without the motif with the Cross of Valor was also used. The next changes in the elements of the coats of arms were made in 1933 and 1938. In 1950, as a result of adopting the act on district bodies of the uniform state authority, on the seal of all Polish towns the image of the state emblem was introduced. The attempts to restore the primary appearance of the town's coat of arms were taken in 1960 and 1963 by the architect of the town - Stanisław Staszewski. Its drawing contains, among others, a triangular peak with a rosette crowned with a finial and not a cross.
