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No.1 Welsh Shop for Welsh Gifts & Wales Rugby Goods
The Welsh Flag |
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The Welsh flag has two equal horizontal stripes, white above green, and a large red dragon passant. There is no "standard"
Welsh dragon, modern renderings whilst based on historic precedents degrees of variation are inevitable, mythical creatures
having always been drawn in a variety of styles. The dragon must, however, face to the left, is centrally sited and covers
equal parts of the white and green panels.
Sometimes claimed to be the oldest national flag still in use, it is unclear why the Welsh adopted the red dragon as a
symbol.
The dragon standard was perhaps first seen in Britain in the shape of the "draco" a standard carried by the cohorts of the
Roman legion though some say that the Red Dragon was originally a griffin on the standard of a Roman legion headquartered in
North Wales. The Romans appear to have been inspired by the dragon standard carried by their Dacian and Parthian enemies and
had adopted this device by the third century. As Roman legions withdrew at the end of the fourth century and the British
were left alone to face Saxon attacks, the dragon would have been a natural symbol for those who wished to preserve their
Romanised way of life against the barbarian invader.
The English word "Dragon" and the Welsh word "Draig" both come from the same Latin root "draco" for standard.
The Welsh dragon of the flag also came to be associated with the fighting dragons imprisoned by Lludd and Llefelys. The
significance of which was pointed out by Myrddin, the Merlin of Arthurian legend. Two dragons, one white, one red, had fought
for many years. The white dragon at first prevailed but in the end the red dragon overcame the white. Myrddin explained that
the Welsh would ultimately, after a long period of adversity, overcome the foreign invaders, and maintain their language,
lands and freedom. A tale believed to be a representation of the conflict in the 5th and 6th centuries between the British
Celts (later to become the Welsh) and the invading Saxons.
Despite occasional use by other figures famous in Welsh history, the red dragon became the symbol of the Welsh nation through
its adoption by the Tudor ancestors of king Henry VII. Edmund and Jasper Tudor had a dragon as crest and supporter to the
arms granted them by Henry VI. When the Welsh dynasty of Henry Tudor defeated king Richard III's House of York at the battle
of Bosworth in 1485 his battle standards numbered three. One of these carried the arms of St. George of England, one the arms
of the house of Beaufort and on one was a "Red ffyry dragon peyntid upon white and Grene Sarcenet". It is held that this
dragon banner represented Henry Tudor's claim to be a true representative of the ancient kings of Britain and served as his
tribute to the Welsh people who had made his victory possible.
The Tudors' livery was white and green. As he marched his troops through Wales to Bosworth, Henry Tudor - shortly to be
Henry VII - flew the red dragon of Cadwallader, from whom he claimed ancestry, on the white and green Tudor colours. It was
to establish the flag in its present day form.
In 1901 the dragon became the official symbol of Wales, and in Caernarfon in 1911, at the investiture of Edward, Prince of
Wales, the flag appeared in its current form, helping its rise to prominence.
In 1953 it was announced that there would be a new royal badge containing the motto "Y Ddraig Goch Ddyry Cychwyn" (an
approximate translation is "the red dragon inspires action").
In 1959, after successful lobbying by the Gorsedd of Bards and others, Queen Elizabeth II made the red dragon on a green and
white background the official flag for Wales. This design can today be seen right across Wales, and is a symbol of pride in
history and heritage for Welsh people around the world.
In 1284 Edward I incorporated Wales into England under the Statute of Rhuddlan.
The Laws in Wales Acts, passed in 1536 and 1543 during the reign of Henry VIII from the Welsh Tudor dynasty, created a single
state and legal jurisdiction, effectively annexing Wales to England.
Largely because of the Laws in Wales Acts and the Statute of Rhuddlan, Wales is not represented on the Union Jack, other than
through the cross of St George (Wales and England being, according to the acts, one country). Although proposals to
incorporate it have been made, they have been met with muted enthusiasm.
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