Topór (Polish for "axe") is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta (noble) families in medieval Poland and under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History The topór coat of arms is said to be one of the oldest Polish szlachta emblems, if not the oldest. Its use dates back to at least as far as a seal of the late 13th century. Before the Union of Horodło (1413) approximately 220 Polish szlachta families - mostly in and around Kraków, Lublin and Sandomierz - used this symbol. Under the Union the coat of arms was represented by Maciej z Wąsosza, the Voivod of Kraków, and by Jan Butrym, a Lithuanian boyar who represented Lithuanian noble family. After the Union of Horodło the coat of arms Topor was transported to Lithuania, adopted by Jan Butrym in Lithuania. Due to its antiquity it was sometimes referred to as "Starża", an Old-Polish word denoting great age. Blazon Gules, axe argent. The crest is in the form of an axe embedded in the helm, argent. In Latin: (Topor). Thopor siue Bipennis alba in campo rubeo (...) Notable bearers Notable bearers of this coat of arms have included: Family of Okulicz Jan Jerzy Grabowski Cyprian Norwid House of Ossoliński Jerzy Ossoliński Franciszek Maksymilian Ossoliński Anna Teresa Ossolińska Józef Kajetan Ossoliński Jan Zbigniew Ossoliński Krzysztof Ossoliński House of Starza Szolayski Adam Prince Starza Szolayski Wanda Princess Starza Szolayska Gerda Starza Szolayska Szołajski House of Tęczyński Zbigniew Tęczyński Jan Magnus Tęczyński House of Tarło Teofilia Tarło Zygmunt Tarło Jan Tarło Andrzej Tarło Pawel Tarło Jadwiga Tarło Stanisław Tarło Jan Karol Tarło Barbara Tarło Eustachy Trepka Józef Zabiełło House of Bogdanowicz Family of Zemła and Zemło ennobled 1413 in the Union of Horodło for taking part and courageous fighting in the battle of Grunwald 1410. House of Matuszewski Szymon Piotr Stefan Matuszewski Gallery Aristocratic variations Standard variations Coat of arms of cities and gminas Coat of arms with the topór symbol Paintings with the coat of arms topór Other See also Polish heraldry Heraldic family List of Polish nobility coats of arms Bibliography Kasper Niesiecki: Herbarz polski. T. 9. 1839-1846 Franciszek Piekosiński: Heraldyka polska wieków średnich. Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, 1899 Józef Szymański: Herbarz średniowiecznego rycerstwa polskiego. Warszawa: PWN, 1993 Bartosz Paprocki, Jan Kazimierz Turowski: Herby rycerstwa polskiego przez Bartosza Paprockiego zebrane i wydane r. p. 1584. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Biblioteki Polskiej, 1858. Stanisław Teodor Chrząński: Tablice odmian herbowych.