Miners in their working uniforms

Traditional Polish coal miners holiday called in honor of Saint Barbara who is the miners patron. It begins from the mass in the Church by the statue of Saint Barbara. After the service the miners orchestra plays and marches around the streets by the estates where coalminers live.

As it is a very important holiday for Polish coalminers there are many events organized such as concerts, performances etc. in which whole families are taking part. Miners gather in the beer inns- men separately from women. They wear traditional ceremonial suits-uniforms. For making mistakes in completing an uniform such as wrongly chosen socks there are various penalties applied – miner has to drink salted beer or so. During the party miners sing, tell jokes. Deserving miners are given swords that can be attached to the uniforms.

Traditional Ceremonial uniform: The most characteristic element is high, rigid, hat with a plume on the top. The colour of the plume depends on the position the miner occupies. Green belongs to the member of the supervision division (cz ł onek nadzoru) White- to foreman (sztygar) Black- to normal miner Red –to musician in the orchestra

Saint Barbara According to an old legend, this extremely beautiful girl living in the 3 rd and 4 th centuries was beheaded by her own father, Dioskur, the ruler of the Nikodemia, for converting into Christianity. During this gruesome execution, the lightning from the sky flashed and killed her father. This is why now Barbara is a saint patron of those who work with the explosives: miners, artillerists, etc. Barbara has become a saint patron of miners all over the world and her cult appeared in Poland in the Middle Ages.

Miners’ colours The miners’ colours are green and black. The first one shows the miners’ longing for the meadows, forests and fields. The other one symbolises the underground darkness.