Wales Flag History
The national flag of wales used by the kingdom of wales since 1400 is the golden dragon rampant flag.
Wales flag history. Meaning and history of this flag can be gleaned through this historyplex article. While the other countries of the uk scotland ireland and england are represented in the union jack wales isn t other than indirectly by the cross of st george standing for the former kingdom of england which used to include wales. The proud and ancient battle standard of the welsh is the red dragon y ddraig goch and consists of a red dragon passant standing with one foot raised on a green and white background as with any ancient symbol the appearance of the dragon. A banner of the queen s arms the royal coat of arms of the united kingdom blazoned quarterly i and iv gules three lions passant guardant in pale or.
Flag of a constituent unit of the united kingdom flown subordinate to the union jack that has horizontal stripes of white and green bearing a large red dragon during the era of roman rule in britain a vexilloid flaglike standard was introduced that may have been invented in persia iran. History blog explore the celebrated and lesser known incidents in welsh history watch rare clips from bbc wales own archive find out about history events in wales. Although an integral part of the united kingdom wales is not represented on the national flag or union flag more popularly known as the union jack. Wales is unique for many reasons not least of these is its unusual flag.
One of the oldest flags in human history is the flag of wales. After the romans left britain it was used by both the britons and the saxons. The flag was granted official status in 1959 but the red dragon itself has been associated with wales for centuries though the origin of the adoption of the dragon symbol is now lost in history and myth a possible 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. Iii azure a harp or stringed argent.
Enemy action over. Read on for some interesting facts about the welsh national flag. Flag date use description since 1837. Ii or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory counter flory gules.
Originally flown as the war banner of owain glyndwr during the war of welsh independence it became the banner used by owain during his time as prince and later by his son maredudd first king of wales to indicate the kings presence. The royal standard used by queen elizabeth ii in england wales and northern ireland. A dragon was the standard of a roman cohort which was a tenth of a legion. History of welsh flags.