Wales Red Dragon (Y Ddraig Goch) Poster

The Welsh Dragon (Welsh: y Ddraig Goch, meaning 'the red dragon'; pronounced [ə ˈðraiɡ ˈɡoːχ]) is a heraldic symbol that represents Wales and appears on the national 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 and is historically known as the "Red Dragon of Cadwaladr". Ancient leaders of the Celtic Britons that are personified as dragons include Maelgwn Gwynedd, Mynyddog Mwynfawr and Urien Rheged. Later Welsh "dragons" include Owain Gwynedd, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and Owain Glyndŵr. The red dragon appears in the ancient Mabinogion story of Lludd and Llefelys where it is confined, battling with an invading white dragon, at Dinas Emrys. The story continues in the Historia Brittonum, written around AD 829, where Gwrtheyrn, King of the Britons is frustrated in attempts to build a fort at Dinas Emrys. He is told by a boy Emrys, to dig up two dragons fighting beneath the castle. He discovers the white dragon representing the Anglo-Saxons, which is soon to be defeated by the red dragon of the Wales. The red dragon is now seen as symbolising Wales, present on the current national flag of Wales, which became an official flag in 1959. Attribution: By Sodacan - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18295501.