Flag of Wales

As an emblem, the red dragon of Wales has been used since the reign of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd from around 655AD.[4][5] The Red Welsh dragon is often described as the "Red Dragon of Cadwaladr" for this reason.[6] Later Taliesin poems reference the return of Cadwaladr (r. c. 655 to 682) and coming Saxon liberation. Nevertheless these are perhaps as old as late 7th century, and speak of the draig ffaw ffyst gychwyned.[16]

Banner of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn the Last)

The Senior line of the House of Aberffraw descended from Prince Llywelyn the Great in patriline succession and became extinct on the death of Owain Lawgoch in 1378.[17]

Banner of Owain Glyndwr

'Y Draig Aur' Owain Glyndŵr 'Golden Dragon'

In 1400, Owain Glyndŵr raised the dragon standard during his revolts against the occupation of Wales by the English crown. Owain's banner known as Y Ddraig Aur ('The Golden Dragon') was raised over Caernarfon during the Battle of Tuthill in 1401 against the English. The flag has ancient origins, Glyndŵr chose to fly the standard of a golden dragon on a white background, the traditional standard.[18][19][20]

Coat of arms of Henry Tudor

In 1485, the most significant link between the symbol of the red dragon and Wales occurred when Henry Tudor flew the red dragon of Cadwaladr during his invasion of England.[21] Henry was of Welsh descent and after leaving France with an army of 2,000, landed at Milford Haven on 7 August. He made capital of his Welsh ancestry in gathering support and gaining safe passage through Wales. Henry met and fought Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and in victory took the English throne. After the battle, Henry carried the red dragon standard in state to St Paul's Cathedral, and later the Tudor livery of green and white was added to the flag.[22]

In 1807, the red dragon on a green mount was adopted as the Royal Badge of Wales,[23] and on 11 March 1953[24] the motto Y Ddraig goch ddyry cychwyn ('The red dragon gives impetus' or 'The red dragon leads the way') was added, a line from the poem by Deio ab Ieuan Du. The badge was the basis of a flag of Wales[25] in which it was placed on a horizontal white and green bicolour. However, the flag was the subject of derision, both because the tail pointed downwards in some iterations[26] and because the motto was a potential double entendre, used in the original poem to allude to the penis of a copulating bull.[23][27][28] In 1959, government use of this flag was dropped in favour of the current flag[29][30] at the urging of the Gorsedd of Bards.[31] Today the flag can be seen flying from the Senedd in Cardiff, and from Welsh Government buildings.

In 2017 the Unicode Consortium approved emoji support for the Flag of Wales[32] following a proposal from Jeremy Burge of Emojipedia and Owen Williams of BBC Wales[33] in 2016.[34] This was added to major smartphone platforms alongside the flags of England and Scotland in the same year.[35] Prior to this update, The Telegraph reported that users had "been able to send emojis of the Union Flag, but not of the individual nations".[36]

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  Flag of Wales from the 1919 Marshal Foch victory-harmony banner
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  Variant depicting the dragon on a green mount[37]
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  Flag of 1953–1959, depicting the Royal Badge of Wales after its augmentation of honour.
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  Flag of Y Wladfa
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  The red dragon on the tailfin of an Air Wales ATR 42 aircraft.

Flag of Saint David

The flag of Saint David, a yellow cross on a black field, is used in the emblem of the Diocese of St Davids and is flown on St David's Day. In recent times the flag has been adopted as a symbol of Welsh nationalism. Some organisations, such as the Christian Party use this flag instead of Y Ddraig Goch, citing their dissatisfaction with the current flag.[38]

Welsh Government ensign

An ensign for use aboard ships used by the Welsh Government, such as the patrol boats of the Marine and Fisheries Division, was granted in 2017.[39]