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Flag of Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Name | The Red Dragon (Y Ddraig Goch) |
| 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 national flag of Wales is The Red Dragon (Welsh: Y Ddraig Goch), consisting of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with any heraldic charge, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised and many renderings exist.
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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 plausible 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 borne 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.
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.
In 2007, George Hargreaves, creator of the Welsh Christian Party, campaigned in the Welsh Assembly elections, saying that if he was elected he would change the flag of Wales and replace it with the Flag of Saint David. He said that the dragon on the flag was, "the very symbol of the devil described in The Book of Revelation 12:3."[6]
However, the verse that Hargreaves referred to reads, "Suddenly, I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads."[7] The dragon on the flag only has one head, one horn and is wearing no crowns.
 Another version of the Welsh flag. |
 The banner of Llywelyn, the last Prince of Wales before complete annexation by England. |
 The Flag of Saint David, patron saint of Wales and an unofficial Welsh national flag |
 One proposal for including the Welsh Dragon on the Union Flag. |
- ^ 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. Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
- ^ Moore, Matthew (2008-04-19). "The new face of Britain? Flag poll results", Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
- ^ "Gurren Lagann Design Wins Informal British Flag Poll". Anime News Network (2007-12-16). Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
- ^ Watson, Molly (2007-05-03). "Christian group wants 'evil' Welsh flag changed". Wales Online. Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
- ^ (2003) Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale, 725.
- HiJack, an article addressing the question of why Wales has no explicit symbolic representation on the Union Flag.
- Wales at Flags of the World
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