Flag of Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Name | Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon) |
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| Use | 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 is Y Ddraig Goch (English: The Red Dragon), consisting 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.
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[edit] History
The flag was granted official status in 1959, but the red dragon itself has been associated with Wales for centuries; indeed, the flag is sometimes claimed to be the oldest national flag still in use, though the origin of the adoption of the dragon symbol is now lost in history and myth. A posible 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 symbolise Wales is from the Historia Brittonum, written around 830, but it is popularly supposed to have been the battle standard of Arthur and other ancient Celtic/Romano-British leaders. It is particularly associated in Welsh poetry with Cadwaladr king of Gwynedd from c.655 to 682.
Many legends are associated with the Welsh dragon. The most famous is the prophecy of Myrddin (or Merlin) of a long fight between a red dragon and a white dragon. According to the prophecy, the white dragon would at first dominate but eventually the red dragon would win, this eventual victory and recapturing of Lloegr would be, according to Welsh legend, brought about by Y Mab Darogan. This is believed to represent the conflict in the 5th and 6th centuries between the British Celts (who later became the Welsh) and the invading Saxons.
One 12th century account of this is Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain, where he states Merlin's prophecies.
[edit] Flying the flag
The flag can be seen flying from the Welsh Assembly Building in Cardiff, and from the Welsh Office in Whitehall, London each day.[2]
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 considered to be 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.[3] Inspired by this, the Daily Telegraph issued a poll for a redesign of the Union Flag akin to Lucas' comments. The poll however, became popular in Japan after it appeared on an online forum. As a result the most popular design, created by a Norwegian, featured a flaming skull wearing sunglasses; a symbol taken from the anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.[4][5]
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.
[edit] Colour and dimensions
 Another version of the Welsh flag. |
[edit] Cultural References
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
[edit] Saint David's Cross
The Flag of Saint David, patron saint of Wales and an unofficial Welsh national flag
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to category: Flags of Wales |
- HiJack, an article addressing the question of why Wales has no explicit symbolic representation on the Union Flag.
- Wales at Flags of the World
[edit] References
- ^ Data Wales : The Welsh Flag and other Welsh symbols
- ^ britishflags.net- Flag of Wales
- ^ 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 on 2008-07-01.
- ^ 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 on 2008-07-01.
- ^ "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 on 2007-12-18.
