Here are some facts about our wonderful Welsh Dragon Flag, the Flag of Cymru, in chronological order:
The Red Dragon has been associated with Wales for hundreds of years, and can claim to be one of the oldest national flags still in use
- C6th - The Welsh kings of Aberffraw adopted the dragon to symbolise their power and authority after the Romans withdrew from Britain
- 655 - The dragon is used as an emblem by Cadwaladr, the King of Gwynedd, thus becoming later known as the Red Dragon of Cadwaladr
- 828 - The oldest recorded use of the 'Red' Dragon to symbolise Wales is from the Historia Brittonum, written by the historian Nennius. The colour has not been found in records before.
- 1120 - 1129 - Geoffrey of Monmouth links the dragon with the Arthurian legends in his Historia Regum Britanniae. In the prophecy of Myrddin (Merlin) a red dragon and a white dragon fight fiercely, symbolising the historical struggle between the Welsh (red) and the English (white)
- 1350–1410 - The story of Lludd a Llefelys in the Mabinogion mentions the red dragon of the Celtic Britons being in opposition with the white dragon of the Saxons
- 1400 - Owain Glyndwr uses dragons in his flag as a symbol of revolt against the English Crown. He is also known as "The Dragon"
- 1485 - 1603 - The house of Tudor, who held the English throne, were descendants from one of the noble families of Wales and so used in their coat of arms. The green and white stripes of the flag were additions of Henry VII, the first Tudor king, representing the colours of his standard.
- 1509 - During Henry VIII’s reign, the red dragon on a green and white background became a favourite emblem on Royal Navy ships.
- 1807 - the red dragon on a green mount was adopted as the Royal Badge of Wales
- 1911 - the red dragon regains popularity in the early part of the twentieth century, when it was used for the 1911 Caernarfon Investiture of Edward, Prince of Wales
- 1959 - The Welsh Dragon is officially adopted by Wales as it's national flag for the first time, despite being used for hundreds of years by Celtic Britons since at least the fall of the Roman empire in C6th
- 2016 - 2017 - the emoji for the flag of Wales became available to major smartphone platforms 🏴
Naturally the Ddraig Goch is featured in many of our products. Have a look below!