The national symbols of Wales
The flag
The coat of arms
The anthem
The costume
The flag of Wales consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field.The flag incorporates the Red
Dragon of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd, along with the Tudor colours of green and white. It was used by Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 after which it was carried in state to St Paul's Cathedral. The red dragon was then included as a supporter of the Tudor royal arms to signify their Welsh descent. It was officially recognised as the Welsh national flag in 1959.
A legend about the Welsh flag.
The floral symbol of Wales
The daffodil is the national flower of Wales, and is worn on St David's Day each 1 March. (In Welsh, the daffodil is known as "Peter's Leek".
The Welsh for leek (the original national emblem) is Cenhinen, while the Welsh for daffodil is Cenhinen Pedr. Over the years they became confused until the daffodil was adopted as a second emblem of Wales.
The leek is also a national emblem of Wales. According to legend, Saint David (the patron saint of Wales) ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify themselves by wearing the vegetable on their helmets in an ancient battle against the Saxons that took place in a leek field. It is still worn on St David's Day each 1 March
The Prince of Wales’s coat of arms has long historical links with the heraldry of his ancestors. The main shield is the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom. It has been used in this form since the reign of Queen Victoria.
In the first and fourth quarters of the shield are the three gold lions on a red field of the Sovereigns of England.
The second quarter of the shield contains Scotland’s red lion rampant on gold. In the third is the golden harp of Ireland on a blue field.
The shield is marked with a white label to show that it is borne by the eldest son of the Sovereign during the latter’s lifetime.
There is a smaller shield within the larger shield which represents the shield of arms of the original native princes of Gwynedd, with quarters of gold and red with four counter-coloured lions.
This shield is surmounted by the coronet of the Heir Apparent. In heraldry this is depicted in the same way as the crown of the Sovereign except that it has one arch instead of two.
Surrounding the whole is the blue buckled garter of the Most Noble Order of the Garter which bears in gold letters the motto, ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’ which means ‘Shame upon him who thinks evil of it’ in Old French.
On top of the shield the royal crest, a gold lion crowned with The Prince’s coronet and a white label about its neck, stands upon a larger coronet.
This in turn sits upon the Royal Helm from both sides of which flow the gold and ermine mantling of the royal family.
On either side, standing on gold scrollwork, are the royal supporters, the Lion and the Unicorn; both have a white label around their necks to again signify the eldest son of the Sovereign.
Beneath them in the centre is the shield of arms of the Duchy of Cornwall surmounted by his coronet.
On the left is the badge of The Prince of Wales, the three ostrich feathers encircled by a gold coronet, and on the right is the royal badge of the Red Dragon of Wales.
Around its neck there is also a white label, to distinguish it from that of the Sovereign.
Under the achievement is a scroll bearing the motto of The Prince of Wales ‘Ich dien’, which means ‘I serve’.
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Welsh pronunciation: [heːn wlɑːd və ˈn̥adaɨ̞]) is the official national anthem of Wales. The title – taken from the first words of the song – means "Old Land of My Fathers" in Welsh, usually rendered in English as simply "Land of My Fathers". The words were written by Evan James and the tune composed by his son, James James, both residents of Pontypridd, Glamorgan, in January 1856. The earliest written copy survives and is part of the collections of the National Library of Wales.
Tradition has established Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau as an unofficial Welsh anthem since 1905, when it was first sung by fans at rugby games, although the official national anthem at the time was God Save the Prince of Wales. Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau slowly established itself as the more popular anthem over the next four decades, and was sung along withGod Save the Prince of Wales and God Save the Queen before sporting events until 1975, when sports officials decided that "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" should be sung alone. Like other British anthems, it has not been established as a national anthem by law, but it has been used as a national anthem at official governmental ceremonies, including the opening of the Welsh Assembly, and at receptions of the British monarchy since the 1970s. It is recognised and used as an anthem at both national and local events in Wales.
The popularity of the song increased after the Llangollen festival of 1858. Thomas Llewelyn of Aberdare won a competition for an unpublished collection of Welsh airs with a collection that included Glan Rhondda. The adjudicator of the competition, "Owain Alaw" (John Owen, 1821–83) asked for permission to include Glan Rhondda in his publication, Gems of Welsh melody (1860–64). This volume gave Glan Rhondda its more famous title, Hen wlad fy nhadau, and was sold in large quantities and ensured the popularity of the anthem across the whole of Wales.
The popular image of Welsh 'national' dress, of a woman in a red cloak and tall black hat, is one which largely developed during the nineteenth century. It was part of a conscious revival of Welsh culture during a period when traditional values were under threat.
The costume regarded as national dress is based on clothing worn by Welsh countrywomen during the early nineteenth century, whch was a striped flannel petticoat, worn under a flannel open-fronted bedgown, with an apron, shawl and kerchief or cap. Style of bedgown varied, with loose coat-like gowns, gowns with a fitted bodice and long skirts and also the short gown, which was very similar to a riding habit style.
The hats generally worn were the same as hats worn by men at the period. The tall 'chimney' hat did not appear until the late 1840s and seems to be based on an amalgamation of men's top hats and a form of high hat worn during the 1790-1820 period in country areas.
Lady Llanover, the wife of an ironmaster in Gwent, was very influential in encouraging the wearing of a 'national' dress, both in her own home and at eisteddfodau. She considered it important to encourage the use of the Welsh language and the wearing of an identifiable Welsh costume. She succeeded in her aim mainly because people felt that their national identity was under threat and the wearing of a national costume was one way to promote that identity.
A further influence was the work of artists producing prints for the rising tourist trade, which had the effect of popularising the idea of a typical Welsh costume, and later the work of photographers who produced thousands of postcards. This contributed to the stereotyping of one style of costume, as opposed to the various styles which were worn earlier in the century.
Is there such a thing as a Welsh kilt?
Although Lady Llanover created 'a weird and wonderful' costume made for her court harpist (see photograph), she was not particularly concerned with a national costume for men. As a result, Welsh men do not have a national dress, although attempts have been made in recent decades to 'revive' a Welsh kilt which never in fact existed!
Even in Scotland, there is evidence to show that the kilt as we know it today is a comparatively modern development from the belted plaid, which was a more substantial garment worn across the shoulder.
One tradition of shawl wearing which is truly Welsh is the practice of carrying babies in a shawl. Illustrations showing this have survived from the late eighteenth century when Welsh women wore a simple length of cloth wrapped around their body. When shawls became popular, they were adapted to the same use, and some women even today still keep up the tradition.
Shawls
Shawls were the most fashionable of accessories between 1840 and 1870. The most popular were the Paisley shawls whose pattern originally came from Kashmir in India.
At first plain shawls with a woven patterned border attached were the most common. Later many fine examples with allover and border patterns were woven in Norfolk, Scotland and Paris. Shawls of the middle of the century were very large and complemented the full skirts of the period. Shawls were made in other fabrics and patterns, including Cantonese silk and fine machine lace, though it was the paisley pattern which became very popular in Wales along with home-produced woollen shawls with checked patterns.
In later years, although fashionable women no longer wore shawls, smaller shawls were still made and worn by countrywomen and working women in the towns. By the 1870s, cheaper shawls were produced by printing the designs on fine wools or cotton. Even during the early years of the twentieth century woollen, knitted and paisley shawls were widely worn in rural Wales. The paisley shawl even became accepted as part of 'Welsh' costume, though there is nothing traditionally Welsh about it at all.
