A polarizing plate and a liquid crystal display including the same are provided. A polarizing plate includes a polarizing film and a contrast-improving optical film sequentially stacked in the stated order. The contrast-improving optical film includes a contrast-improving layer including a first resin layer and a second resin layer facing the first resin layer. The second resin layer includes a patterned portion having optical patterns and a flat section between the optical patterns. The second resin layer satisfies Equation 1, and the polarizing plate has a contrast ratio gain of about 1.00 or more, as represented by Equation 2.