2006-06-22 23:43:37 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Y Ddraig Goch (the red dragon) is the national flag of Wales, and has been officially recognised as such since the 1950s. The white-over-green field is in the livery colours of the Tudors, the Welsh dynasty that once sat on the English throne.
Conventional wisdom is that the 'draco' standards of the Romans were adopted by the Britons, probably as a metal (possibly real gold) head with a windsock type of body made of silk. In the mouth was a whistling type device that would make sounds as it was waved with vigor. Supposedly used by King Arthur, certainly used by the Wessex lords in the 700s, the emblem has been used by Britons right up to the present time.
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, but it could be even older. 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.
2006-06-22 23:48:04 · answer #1 · answered by Slippery_Jim 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
because Wales was a part of England then, along with all of Britain - there was no divide between what became England and the Celts during that period (that happened with the Saxons, whom the legendary Arthur is supposed to have fought against)... Get of your high Welsh horse, English people are proud of their pre-Saxon culture too, believe it or not...also, Arthur may not have even been a proper Celt anyway but a Roman-Briton. Maybe Rome should have a dragon flag instead.
2016-03-27 01:50:40 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are a number of legends (see previous answers) but the truth is that nobody knows! The best guess is that it was actually a saxon flag, taken by the welsh in battle and kept as a national symbol ever since.
Apparently we're the only nation to begin the third millennium with the same flag as we had in the first, which is cool!
2006-06-26 07:39:26 · answer #3 · answered by sd5 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a legend about Merlin the wizard that when he was a little boy he got taken to this place where they were building a castle and it kept collapsing. I can't remember this entirely, but it turned out that there were two dragons fighting underneath where the castle was being built. One was white and one was red - and the white represented England and the red Wales. And the red one won, which is why it's on the flag.
2006-06-24 09:38:14 · answer #4 · answered by Nannon 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Origin of Welsh dragon:
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Flag of Wales
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The Welsh Dragon on the tailfin of an Air Wales ATR 42 aircraft.
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The Welsh Dragon on the tailfin of an Air Wales ATR 42 aircraft.
The national flag of Wales is The Red Dragon (Welsh: Y Ddraig Goch). It consists 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 different interpretations exist.
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, but it could be even older. 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 recorded 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 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 Welsh Flag is the only flag of the constituent countries of the UK not to be used in the Union Jack. 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 Jack but these have never met with much support.
Wales and Bhutan are presently the only countries to have a dragon on their flag, though the Chinese flag also featured a dragon during the Qing Dynasty.
[edit]
See also
* List of British flags
* List of Welsh flags
[edit]
External links
* HiJack, an article addressing the question of why Wales has no explicit symbolic representation on the Union Flag.
* Wales at Flags of the World
Flags of the United Kingdom
UK Union Jack | Royal Standard
Home Nations England | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Wales
Ensigns Blue Ensign | Red Ensign | White Ensign | Royal Air Force Ensign
National flags National coats of arms
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Flags of dependent territories
Flags of unrecognized states Coats of arms of dependent territories
Coats of arms of unrecognized states
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Wales"
Categories: Wales | National flags | Flags of Wales | Dragons
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2006-06-22 23:55:28 · answer #5 · answered by helixburger 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the dragon for the country i come from is the greatest and most bigest dragon going it's from the heart of every welsh man and woman
2006-06-22 23:49:24 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
From the red dragons mother.
2006-06-24 02:56:38 · answer #7 · answered by robbie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was introduced by the romans about 18 hundred years ago. When the romans withdrew they left their standards (the red dragon) to show who was in charge.
2006-06-22 23:55:59 · answer #8 · answered by willowbee 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thats a good question..i cant say i know, but i do think the welsh flag is fairly modern..
2006-06-22 23:48:38 · answer #9 · answered by thomas p 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2014-09-16 00:31:12 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋