Welsh Flag

[king-aslan]

i'm not sure wether this is true, but is the story behind the red dragon, one where a white dragon and the red dragon fought for years and the red dragon won, shattering the white dragon leaving bits of quartz around wales, and the red dragon was put on the flag, to celebrate the death of the 'evil' Dragon. I'm Welsh and i dont even know :s. Thanks
Aslan

[B00]

Mentions it here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_flag

[king-aslan]

its you again! you're helpful lately!

[B00]

Heh!
hello again, I'm not stalking ya- honestly!

[bednobs]

youre not sure about whether a story about a dragon is true?????

dragons dont exist, so i would imagine not

[bednobs]

youre not sure about whether a story about a dragon is true?????

dragons dont exist, so i would imagine not

[king-aslan]

no, the background behind it. I wasn't sure whether the myth behind it was true, or something somone had made up to tell me.

[B00]

What do you mean dragons don't exist? Tell that to Puff then!

Next you'll be saying there's no such thing as Santa bednobs!!

[king-aslan]

heheh, that and he'll probably say that the tooth fairy doesn't exist either, and its just our parents who put money under the pillow. He's a bad man BOO.

[naz_nomad]

They forget all too quickly who slayed the dragon though, don't they?

[king-aslan]

no, its on the flag

[morbidstorm]

naz nomad, if you are referring to St George, then i hope you know that he was Turkish NOT English!!!!!!

[naz_nomad]

My reference was to the fact the dragon was slain, doesn't
really matter by whom.

[king-aslan]

it does matter, becasue now, it doesn't answer why the red dragon is on the flag as opposed to the white one

[naz_nomad]

no, it doesn't matter

[Upforit]

The answer I think you are seeking is this, as far as I remember it. For more detail, search the Merlin/Arthur/Celtic myths. Merlin was supposed to have been born of a woman without the intervention of a man. I don�t remember why this was, but it was to do with defeating Mab, the Queen of the Faeries. This is what gave him his magical powers. There was an ancient king, Vortigan (who I believe was a historical figure) who wanted a castle built, but all efforts resulted in failure. The castle always fell down before completion. His magical advisors told him he must sacrifice a boy who had no father. Enter Merlin. Merlin, to save his life said he could tell Vortigan how to build his castle. He was spared and Merlin told him that beneath the foundations was a pool in which there were two dragons, one white, and one red. He must uncover the pool, allow the dragons to fight and if the red dragon won, the castle would stand. If the white won, the castle would always fall. Of course, the red dragon won, Merlin was spared and the red dragon became Vortigans symbol. Vortigan betrayed the English (who we know are really the Welsh, forced to the west of what was then a Celtic Albion) to the Norsemen and he was in turn betrayed and killed by the Norsemen. The red dragon became the Welsh National flag.
While I may have made some historical and mythical errors, this is the gist of the myth and the reason the red dragon is the symbol of Wales. I hope this is what you were after.

[king-aslan]

very interesting, thanks very much Upforit, thats cleared up everything.

[nickmo]

Further expanded info at: http://www.hampshireflag.co.uk/world-flags/all flags/index.html

Click on country an 21 000 pages of countries flag stuff to keep you happy - inc. Wales........

[Octavius]

You are probably referring to the collection of medieval prose, poetry and scripture known as the Mabinogion and in particular Lludd and Llefelys. As we know, many ancient texts are symbolic and it is believed that the red dragon was the symbol of Merlin (or of native Britains) and the white dragon the invading saxons.

In ancient Welsh draig or dragon meant 'warrior' so I am certain they existed in some form, on both sides of the war!