The moja-moja dragon is a legendary beast that once prowled the central mountains of Poland. This creature had a curly white fur that covered its scaly hide, enabling it to withstand the scolding cold of the Polish winter. This white coat made it also difficult to see the foul beast, that attacked wary travellers, eating them and their mounts. Needless to say, this creature was feared by many.
One night, a mysterious knight came to the small mountain town of Prknovsky. The place was very busy with a wedding which was still in its early stage, some people were not drunk and the second axe fight had not started. He carried a large piece of fur, one part white as snow the other, the other red with blood. When the stranger refused to give his name or explain the nature of fur, tempers heated up and axes flew.
In the confusion the knight disappeared and the hide was kept by the inn-keeper who claimed his son had in fact killed the dragon and the hide was sign of his noble lineage and started a campaign to take over the position of the local count. He succeeded largely because the count was very unpopular, as he did not drink any alcoholic beverage.
The furry banner had only been set up on top of the tower of Prknovsky that the town was taken over by king Ubu and his troops. Word of the magical flag made out of the hide of the moja-moja dragon had reached the capital. The kind did not wish to leave such a powerful artefact in the hands of a mere inn-keeper. The king’s men managed to get the hide and put on fire the tower, but had to retreat has the local population fought back to get the magical flag and revenge for the burned down distillery at the foot of the tower.
The retreating troops were ambushed in the mountain pass at the exit of the Prknovsky vale. The resulting battle was bloody, but the villagers prevailed, only to be eaten by the moja-moja dragon whose hide the flag was obviously not. The battle was a massacre, but King Ubu managed to flee. He later claimed that he had the magical banner, and changed the flag of Poland to match the hide of the moja-moja dragon, white as snow at the top, red with blood at the bottom.
just to clarify: there are no central mountains in Poland. central Poland is as flat a plain as a plain can be, thereby providing a perfect venue for axe disputes between Germans and Russians concerning this or that geopolitical claim.
the mountainous folks with axe (“ciupaga”) weddings are a small tribe inhabiting Tatry mountains down the south. the whole Polish Tatry could be squeezed into one Alpian valley. but those folks do provide a perfect source of fairy tales for Western tourists. Americans, Germans, Asians, all do roam streets of our towns with fake Zakopane ciupagas.
as for the flag, its white stands for eagle’s feathers, not for dragon’s fur. usual heraldic business. though I agree that coat of arms featuring a white dragon would be also quite cool.