Y Ddraig Goch: The Red Dragon Flag of Wales

Jan 8, 2012
Sharon Brookshaw

How did Wales come to have such a distinctive flag?

The heraldic badge of Wales is called Y Ddraig Goch or The Red Dragon. Wales has enjoyed an association with this symbol for centuries, but it took until the middle of the 20th century for it to be officially recognised as the national flag of the country.

Historical Origins of the Red Dragon Flag

Between AD250 and AD400, the Roman cavalry involved with the later stages of the occupation of Britain often carried with them a dragon emblem. These emblems were sometimes made into draco standards, where a dragon’s head was made out of hollow metal and attached to a pole; often the heads has windsock-like tails to stream out behind them when the stand bearer was in motion. These dragons became strongly associated both with war and power. After the Romans left Britain, red dragons were adopted by some Welsh kings from the early fifth century as a symbol of their own power and ability to make war on their enemies now that the Romans had left.

Mythical Origins of The Red Dragon Flag

Long ago, before the birth of King Arthur, there lived a king called Vortigern. Vortigern wanted to build a new castle at Dinas Emrys in Snowdonia, but each time he tried an earthquake would strike and knock his new castle back to ruins. A young wizard called Merlin was brought in to advise the king, who told him that the ground was shaking because deep inside the earth two dragons were locked in mortal combat.

Vortigern ordered his men to excavate the site, and sure enough, they found two great dragons fighting, each with its jaws wrapped around the other’s tail. One of the beasts was red and the other was white, and Merlin interpreted this sight as a symbol of the nations of Wales and England respectively, locked in a struggle until one of them would triumph and vanquish the other. The battle, Merlin predicted, would last for centuries. Since that day, the red dragon has been associated with Wales.

How the Red Dragon Became Wales’ Official Flag

In 1284, King Edward I of England conquered Wales and made his eldest son the Prince of Wales. Since this time, the eldest son of each English monarch has held this title. Wales was ruled by England from this point, and under laws passed during the later reign of King Henry VIII, Wales was effectively annexed to England. At this point, Wales had no flag or symbol of its own.

The Red Dragon did continue to keep its association with Wales, however, but it was not until 1807 that it returned to the Royal Badge of Wales. It took until 1901 for the Red Dragon to become accepted as the official symbol of Wales, and in 1911 it was used on a flag in its current format for the first time during the investiture of Edward as the new Prince of Wales. Its use in these circumstances helped the growing recognition of the flag. It took a lot of lobbying for the new presentation of the red dragon on a white and green background to become officially accepted as the flag of Wales, which was finally done by Queen Elizabeth II in 1959.