Flag of Wales

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Flag of Wales

(now defunct) ATR 42

ATR 42

The ATR 42 is a twin-turboprop, short-haul regional airliner built in France and Italy by ATR . The name "42" comes from the aircraft's standard seating, which varies from 40 to 50....
aircraft.]]

The national flag

National flag

File:dannebrog.jpgA national flag is a flag that symbolises a country. The flag is flown by the government, but usually can be flown by citizens of that country as well....
of Wales

Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
is Y Ddraig Goch , consisting of a red

Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 625?740 Nanometer....
dragon

European dragon

European dragons are legendary creatures in folklore and mythology among the overlapping culture of Europe. The word for dragon in Germanic mythology and its descendants is wiktionary:worm , meaning snake or serpent....
passant

Attitude (heraldry)

In heraldry, an attitude is the position in which a heraldic beast is emblazoned as a supporter or a crest , or on the escutcheon. Most positions describe four-legged animals....
on a green

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520?570-Nanometre....
and white

White

White is a color, the Color vision#Physiology of color perception which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in near equal amount and with high brightness compared to the surroundings....
field

Field (heraldry)

In heraldry, the background of the shield is called the field. The field is usually composed of one or more tincture s or Heraldic furs....
. As with any heraldic charge, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised and many renderings exist.

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

National flag

File:dannebrog.jpgA national flag is a flag that symbolises a country. The flag is flown by the government, but usually can be flown by citizens of that country as well....
still in use, though the origin of the adoption of the dragon symbol is now lost in history

History of Wales

The country of Wales, or Cymru in Welsh, has been inhabited by modern humans for at least 29,000 years, though continuous human habitation dates from the period after the end of the last Ice age, around 9,000 BC....
and myth

Welsh mythology

Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons , has come down to us in much altered form in Medieval Welsh literature such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin....
.

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Encyclopedia

(now defunct) ATR 42

ATR 42

National flag

File:dannebrog.jpgA national flag is a flag that symbolises a country. The flag is flown by the government, but usually can be flown by citizens of that country as well....
of Wales

Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
is Y Ddraig Goch , consisting of a red

Red

European dragon

Attitude (heraldry)

In heraldry, an attitude is the position in which a heraldic beast is emblazoned as a supporter or a crest , or on the escutcheon. Most positions describe four-legged animals....
on a green

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520?570-Nanometre....
and white

White

Field (heraldry)

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

National flag

History of Wales

Welsh mythology

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
brought the emblem to what is now Wales during their occupation of Britain

Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
in the form of the Draco standards

Draco (military standard)

A draco was a Roman cavalry military standard borne by a draconarius. Thought to have originated with the Dacians, it took the form of a gaping wolf's head and mouth formed from cast metal, to the end of which was attached a 'body' of cloth or silk fabric in the form of a windsock....
borne by the Roman cavalry, itself inspired by the symbols of the Dacians

Dacians

The Dacians were an Indo-European people, the ancient inhabitants of Dacia , present-day Romania and Moldova, parts of Sarmatia and Scythia Minor in southeastern Europe ....
or Parthians. The green and white stripes of the flag were additions by the House of Tudor, the Welsh dynasty that held the English throne

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a state in North-West Europe. The Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and a number of smaller outlying islands?what is today the legal unit of England and Wales....
from 1485 to 1603. Green and white are also the colours of the leek, another national emblem

National emblem

A national emblem national symbols represents a nation. Most national emblems originate in the natural world, such as animals or birds, but another object may serve....
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

King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
and other ancient Celt

Celt

Celts , is a modern term used to describe any of the European peoples who spoke, or speak, a Celtic languages. The term is also used in a wider sense to describe the Modern Celts of those peoples, notably those who participate in a Celtic culture....
ic/Romano-British

Romano-British

Romano-British culture is that of the Romanised Britons under the Roman Empire and later the Western Roman Empire, and of those exposed to Roman culture in the years after the Roman departure from Britain....
leaders. It is particularly associated in Welsh poetry with Cadwaladr

Cadwaladr

Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon , also known as Cadwaladr Fendigaid was a king of Kingdom of Gwynedd. According to the Historia Brittonum he King of the Britons....
king of Gwynedd

Kingdom of Gwynedd

Gwynedd is one of several Wales successor states that emerged in 5th-century sub-Roman Britain. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the Deceangli which were collectively known as Venedotia in late Romano-British documents....
from c.655 to 682.

Many legends are associated with the Welsh dragon. The most famous is the prophecy

Prophecy

Prophecy, generally, describes the disclosing of information that is not known to the prophet by any ordinary means. In religion, this is thought to be a divinely inspired revelation or interpretation....
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

Y Mab Darogan

Y Mab Darogan is a Messiah figure of Wales legend, destined to force the Anglo-Saxons out of Great Britain and reclaim it for its Celtic inhabitants....
. This is believed to represent the conflict in the 5th and 6th centuries between the British Celts (who later became the Welsh

Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
) and the invading Saxons

Saxons

The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic peoples. Their modern-day descendants in Saxony are considered ethnic Germans; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch people; those in north eastern Belgium are considered to be ethnic Flemish people; and those in southern England ethnic English people ....
.

One 12th century account of this is Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain, where he states Merlin's prophecies.

Use

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

The Welsh Flag is the only flag of the constituent countries of the UK

British Isles (terminology)

File:LocationBritishIsles-noborders.PNGThe various terms used to describe the different geographical and political areas of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland and surrounding islands are often a source of confusion, partly owing to the similarity between some of the actual words used, but also because they are often used loosely....
not to be used in the Union Flag

Union Flag

The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the national Flag of the United Kingdom. Historically, the flag was used throughout the former British Empire....
. Wales had no explicit recognition in the flag because Wales had been annexed by Edward I of England

Edward I of England

Edward I , popularly known as Longshanks, the English Justinian, and the Hammer of the Scots , was a House of Plantagenet King of England who achieved historical fame by conquering large parts of Wales and almost succeeding in doing the same to Scotland....
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

Flag of Saint David

The Flag of St David is normally a gold cross on a black field, although it appears in many forms including a black cross on a gold field, or with an engrailed cross....
(itself a cross) on the Union Flag, but these have not met with much support. Welsh Labour

Wales Labour Party

Welsh Labour , is part of the United Kingdom Labour Party which operates in Wales. Labour is the largest and most successful political party in modern Welsh politics, having won the largest share of the vote at every UK United Kingdom general elections, Welsh Assembly election and European Parliament election since 1922....
MP Ian Lucas

Ian Lucas

Ian Colin Lucas has been the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Wrexham in the United Kingdom since 2001....
suggested that the Welsh flag should have a greater place in the Union Flag. 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

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
after it appeared on an online forum. As a result the most popular design, created by a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
, featured a flaming skull wearing sunglasses; a symbol taken from the anime

Anime

is animation in Japan and considered to be "Japanese animation" in the rest of the world. Anime dates from about 1917.Anime, in addition to manga , is extremely popular in Japan and well known throughout the world....
series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

Wales and Bhutan

Flag of Bhutan

File:Flag of Bhutan.svgThe national flag of Bhutan consists of a white dragon over a yellow and orange background. The flag is divided diagonally from the lower hoist side corner, making two triangles....
are the only countries to have a dragon on their flag, though the Chinese flag

Flag of China

Flag of China may refer to:* Flag of the People's Republic of China, the State that controls the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, claiming Taiwan as one of its provinces, officially recognized by the United Nations as the sole and legitimate representative of China....
also featured a dragon during the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, followed the Ming Dynasty in History of China, and was the last ruling Chinese Dynasties of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 ....
.

Controversy

In 2007, George Hargreaves

George Hargreaves (politician)

James George Hargreaves , known as George Hargreaves or J. G. Hargreaves, is a religious minister, political campaigner and former music producer and songwriter....
, creator of the Welsh Christian Party, campaigned in the Welsh Assembly elections

Welsh Assembly election, 2007

The 2007 National Assembly election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election....
, saying that if he was elected he would change the flag of Wales and replace it with the Flag of Saint David

Flag of Saint David

The Flag of St David is normally a gold cross on a black field, although it appears in many forms including a black cross on a gold field, or with an engrailed cross....
. He said that the dragon on the flag was, "the very symbol of the devil

Satan

Satan is a term that originates from the Abrahamic religions, being traditionally applied to an angel in Judeo-Christian belief, and to a Genie in Islamic belief....
described in The Book of Revelation

Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation, also called Revelation to John, Apocalypse of John , and Revelation of Jesus Christ is the last Biblical canon of the New Testament in the Christian Bible....
12:3."

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." The dragon on the flag only has one head, no horn and is wearing no crowns.

Cultural References

Roger Waters

George Roger Waters is an England rock music musician. He is best known as the bass guitar player and one of the main songwriters in the English rock band Pink Floyd from 1964 to 1985....
' album Radio K.A.O.S.

Radio K.A.O.S.

Radio K.A.O.S. is a 1987 concept album/rock opera by former Pink Floyd bass guitarist and songwriter Roger Waters. It is his second solo album....
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

Other Welsh Flags

External links

, an article addressing the question of why Wales has no explicit symbolic representation on the Union Flag
Union Flag

The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the national Flag of the United Kingdom. Historically, the flag was used throughout the former British Empire....
.

Flag of Wales

History

Use

Controversy

Cultural References

Other Welsh Flags

See also

External links