Flag of Wales


Flag of Wales
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Name Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon)
Use Civil and state flag Civil and state flag
Proportion 3:5
Adopted 1959
Design A horizontal bicolour of white over green charged with a red dragon passant

The Flag of Wales (Welsh: Y Ddraig Goch, literally The Red Dragon) consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised and many renderings exist.

The flag incorporates the red dragon of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd, along with the Tudor colours of green and white. It was used by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 after which it was carried in state to St. Paul's Cathedral. The red dragon was then included in the Tudor royal arms to signify their Welsh descent. It was officially recognized as the Welsh national flag in 1959.

The flag can be seen flying from the Welsh Assembly building in Cardiff, and from the Wales Office in Whitehall, London each day.

Wales and Bhutan are the only countries to have a dragon on their flag, though the Chinese flag also featured a dragon during the Qing Dynasty.

Contents

History

15th Century image illustrating the story of Vortigern and the red and white dragons

The flag was granted official status in 1959, but the red dragon itself has been associated with Wales for centuries, though the origin of the adoption of the dragon symbol is now lost in history and myth. A possible theory is that the Romans brought the emblem to what is now Wales during their occupation of Britain in the form of the Draco standards born by the Roman cavalry, itself inspired by the symbols of the Dacians or Parthians.[1] The green and white stripes of the flag were additions by the House of Tudor, the Welsh dynasty that held the English throne from 1485 to 1603. Green and white are also the colours of the leek, another national emblem of Wales.

The oldest known use of the dragon to represent Wales is from the Historia Brittonum,[2] written around 830 the text describes a struggle between two serpents deep underground which prevents King Vortigern from building a stronghold. This story was later adapted into a prophecy made by the wizard Myrddin (or Merlin) of a long fight between a red dragon and a white dragon. According to the prophecy, the white dragon, representing the Saxons, would at first dominate but eventually the red dragon, symbolising the Celts, would be victorious and recapture Lloegr. According to the legend, this victory would be brought about by Y Mab Darogan. This is believed to represent the conflict in the 5th and 6th centuries between the British Celts and the invading Saxons. A version of the tale also appears as part of the poem 'Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys' in the Mabinogion.[2] One twelfth century account of this is Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, where he states Merlin's prophecies.

The red dragon is popularly believed to have been the battle standard of Arthur[2] and other ancient Celtic/Romano-British leaders. It is particularly associated in Welsh poetry with Cadwaladr king of Gwynedd from c.655 to 682.

Despite the close link throughout early Welsh history, the dragon was not used exclusively as a symbol for Wales during this period, and it was used throughout Britain as a symbol of authority. In 1138 it was adopted by the Scottish as a royal standard, and Richard I took a dragon standard to the Third Crusade in 1191. Henry III fought under the dragon at the Battle of Lewes and it was used later by Edward III at the Battle of Crécy. The Battle of Crécy has a notable connection to Wales, due to Edward's use of Welsh longbowmen from Llantrisant, who wore the colours of green and white, the Tudor colours, which would later be used as the background colours of the flag of Wales.[3]

In 1400 Owain Glyndwr raised the dragon standard during his revolts against the occupation of Wales by the English crown. Fifteen years later the English crown, under the rule of Henry V, used the red dragon standard itself during the Battle of Agincourt. The English forces during the battle utilisied Welsh longbowmen, along with their own archers. In 1485, the most significant link between the symbol of the Red Dragon and Wales occured when Henry Tudor flew the red dragon of Cadwallader during his invasion of England.[3] Henry was of Welsh descent and after leaving France with an army of 2000, landed at Milford Haven on 7 August. He made capital of his Welsh ancestry in gathering support and gaining safe passage through Wales. Henry met and fought Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and in victory took the English throne. After the battle, Henry carried the Red Dragon standard in state to St. Paul's Cathedral, and later the Tudor livery of green and white was added to the flag.[4]

In 1807 the red dragon on a green mount was adopted as the badge of Wales,[2] and on 11 March 1953[5] the motto 'Y Ddraig goch ddyry cychwyn' ('The red dragon gives impetus') was added, a line from the poem by Deio ab Ieuan Du which metaphorically refers to a bull copulating.[2] In 1959 the red dragon on a green and white field was adopted as the national flag of Wales.[2]

Exclusion from the Union Flag

Proposed change to the British Union Flag so as to incorporate in it the Welsh Dragon (suggested by Member of Parliament Ian Lucas).

The Welsh Flag is the only flag of the constituent countries of the UK not to be used in the Union Flag. Wales had no explicit recognition in the flag because Wales had been annexed by Edward I of England in 1282 and, since the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, was a part of the Kingdom of England. There have since been proposals to include the Dragon or the flag of Saint David (itself a cross) on the Union Flag, but these have not met with much support. Welsh Labour MP Ian Lucas suggested that the Welsh flag should have a greater place in the Union Flag.[6] Inspired by this, the Daily Telegraph issued a poll for a redesign of the Union Flag akin to Lucas' comments.[7][8]

Cultural references

The flag of Wales has been used by those in the arts, sport and business to show a sense of patriotism or recognition with Wales. During the 1999 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted in Wales, the opening ceremony used the motif of the dragon several times, though most memorably, the flag was worn on a dress by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey.[9]

The Welsh Dragon on the tailfin of an Air Wales ATR 42 aircraft.

Other musicians to have used the flag, include Nicky Wire of the Manic Street Preachers, who will often drape the Welsh flag over amps when playing live,[10] and Cerys Matthews who has worn the image on her clothes,[11] while classical singer Katherine Jenkins has taken the flag on stage during live performances.[12][13]

Roger Waters' album Radio K.A.O.S. follows the story of a young Welsh boy. The song "Sunset Strip" contains the lyrics:

And I sit in the canyon with my back to the sea
There's a blood red dragon on a field of green
Calling me back
Back to the Black Hills again

See also

External links

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Data Wales : The Welsh Flag and other Welsh symbols
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Davies (2008), pg732.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The dragon and war BBC Wales history
  4. ↑ Perrin, W.G. (1922). British Flags. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
  5. ↑ Origin of Y Ddraig Goch Flags of the World
  6. ↑ Cleland, Gary (2008-04-19). "Union Jack should include Welsh flag, says MP". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/1570613/Union-Jack-should-include-Welsh-flag%2C-says-MP.html. Retrieved 2008-07-01. 
  7. ↑ Moore, Matthew (2008-04-19). "The new face of Britain? Flag poll results". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1572168/The-new-face-of-Britain-Flag-poll-results.html. Retrieved 2008-07-01. 
  8. ↑ "Gurren Lagann Design Wins Informal British Flag Poll". Anime News Network. 2007-12-16. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-12-16/gurren-lagann-design-wins-informal-british-flag-poll. Retrieved 2007-12-18. 
  9. ↑ World Cup kicks off in style BBC News, 1 October 1999
  10. ↑ Manic Street Preachers - Nicky Wire BBC, Wales Music
  11. ↑ Pop music: The changing face of Brit guitar rock The Independent, 27 March 1998
  12. ↑ Katherine Jenkins threatens to spill out of dress on stage as boyfriend Gethin Jones looks on London Evening Standard, 25 August 2008
  13. ↑ Katherine shines at last night of the Proms Daily Express, 14 September 2009