Wales is one of only two countries globally to prominently feature a dragon on its national flag, along with the South Asian Kingdom of Bhutan. In Wales, the image of the dragon is almost inescapable and features in many aspects of daily life. The dragon is featured in the logos of; newspapers such as Yr Herald Cymraeg, the Western Mail, and Daily Post; sports teams such as the Welsh national football team, Scarlets, and Dragons; government organisations such as the Welsh Government and Visit Wales; as well as universities such as Swansea, Cardiff Metropolitan, and Aberystwyth.

The symbol of the dragon has been associated with Wales since at least the fourth century, however Y Ddraig Goch (the Red Dragon) was not designated as the official flag until 1959.

This late adoption suggests more about Wales’s status within the Union, rather than the power of its symbolism, as the Laws in Wales Act 1535 and 1542 had incorporated and annexed Wales into the Kingdom of England.

After 1945, the sense of British togetherness fostered by the Second World War had begun to fade, leading to a rise in Welsh nationalism and the augmentation of the Royal Badge of Wales onto the deeply unpopular 1953 Welsh flag.

Several key questions will be examined regarding the recognition of Welsh national symbols in the 1950s, why they mattered and how they impacted Welsh nationhood. Did the theoretical definition of a ‘sovereign nation’ apply to Wales in this period? What is the role of vexillology within nationhood and the historic symbolism of Y Ddraig Goch?

In discussing these questions, two milestones will be assessed: the creation of the 1953 flag; its repeal, and the official status granted to the Red Dragon in 1959.

Third, the granting of capital status to Cardiff will be considered. This was a purely symbolic act, however it was announced with little fanfare in 1955. In examining these milestone events, this article will posit the thesis that although Wales lacked the political infrastructure to be considered a sovereign nation, it maintained a culturally distinct national identity that eventually led to the two devolution votes of 1979 and 1997.

The 1950s demonstrated the dichotomous relationship of ‘British’ and ‘Welsh’ identities in Wales. Despite the maturing of Welsh national movements, the question remained for Welsh national symbols not whether they were valid, but whether they were equal with British symbols such as the Union Jack.

For the past 200 years, the conception of the nation has been rather arbitrary. In his 1882 lecture, Ernest Renan questioned ‘Qu’est-ce que’une nation?’ (What is a nation?) in order to explain the rise of nationalism and to define the kind of nation France had become following the 1789 revolution.

Renan asserted that neither language, religion, nor ethnicity formed the basis of a nation, but rather it is ‘a soul, a spiritual principle’.[1] Renan contended that the two factors contributing to the nation are: the past, ‘the common possession of a rich legacy of memories’;[2] and consent, ‘the desire to live together’.[3]

Similarly, Benedict Anderson’s seminal work on nationalism, Imagined Communities, also presented the nation as spiritual. For Anderson, the nation is ‘imagined’ as it is impossible for one person to meet the entire population, yet nationalism creates ‘a deep, horizontal comradeship’ that has led people to kill and die for one’s nation.[4]

Both Renan and Anderson conform to a more historicist view of nationalism, emphasising the roles of collective memory and consent. In this regard, nationalistic symbols such as flags are, by definition, imagined, as flags are designed with evocative imagery in order to unite the nation behind a set of common ideals and history.

Whitney Smith first coined the term ‘vexillology’ in 1957 as a synthesis of the Latin ‘vexillum’ (flag) and the suffix ‘-logia’ (to study), using it in print for the first time in The Arab World in October 1958.[5]

Applications of vexillology to academic definitions of nationalism are rare, however Michael Billig provided perhaps the most renowned conception in his work Banal Nationalism. ‘Banal nationalism’ describes a process by which subtle reminders of ones national identity are replicated via means that are ‘unnamed’ and ‘unnoticed’.[6] This unnoticed nature underlines the banality of some national symbols, and sets them aside from the more controversial ‘flag waved by Serbian ethnic cleansers’.[7] The official national symbols of western countries thus represent a microcosm of the nation: a set of shared values and homogenous symbols steeped in shared history.

In a similar vein, Tim Marshall’s book Worth Dying For used vexillology to contend the twenty-first century assertion that the nation would wither and die in the face of globalisation.[8] Rather, Marshall argued that the steadfast strength of national symbols is testament to the long-term resurgence of nationalism, underscored by the use of ‘Flags of Fear’ as ‘visual sound bites’ by non-state actors such as so-called Islamic State.[9]

In no uncertain terms, within the field of vexillology, a flag is the nation, and 1950s Wales was no exception to this. As the German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe told the designer of the Venezuelan national flag, Francisco de Miranda: ‘A country starts out from a name and a flag, and it then becomes them, just as a man fulfils his destiny’.[10]

The dragon has been a symbol of power in Wales since the Roman retreat in the fourth century, stemming from the standard-bearers of serpent-shaped banners known as the ‘draconarius’.[11]

While the eagle traditionally represented an entire legion, each draco represented individual cohorts and their warriors. This is evident in the ancient Welsh words ‘draig’ and ‘dragon’, originally meaning warrior, and their amalgamation with the word ‘pen’ (head/chief) into ‘pendragon’ (chief warrior).[12] The term pendragon also denotes similarities to the Arthurian legend. In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s twelfth century Historia Regum Britanniae, King Arthur was said to have carried a ‘dreic eureit’ (golden dragon) banner, while his father’s name, Uther Pendragon, was mistranslated to ‘dragon’s head’.[13]

By the fourteenth century, the dragon came to represent the medieval struggle between the Welsh and English, or Saxons, in the story of Lludd and Llefelys in the folktale collection the Mabinogion. The story prophesised a battle between two dragons, a red Welsh dragon and a ‘foreign’ white dragon, which represented this geographic rivalry.[14]

This was, however, was not a uniquely Welsh symbol. On the Bayeux Tapestry, Harold Godwinson is twice depicted as carrying a dragon banner representing ‘the dragon of Wessex’,[15] a symbol currently used on the county flag of Somerset.

Harold Godwinson carrying a dragon banner on the Bayeux Tapestry The current flag of Somerset, depicting the Wessex Wyvern

Nevertheless, powerful figures such as Owain Glyndŵr and Henry VII greatly contributed to the symbolism of the dragon as representing a united Wales and a strong figurehead. Glyndŵr reportedly utilised an Arthurian golden dragon, while Henry’s green-white Tudor colours became the background field of Y Ddraig Goch. Both men’s campaigns, 1400-15 and 1485 respectively, succeeded in uniting Welsh soldiers behind a common cause and leader. Glyndŵr and Henry were the embodiment of the dragon, as evident in contemporary poetry following Glyndŵr’s death:[16]

Cysgu ‘roedd Cymru medd sawl a’i gwyl, (Those who watch over know that Wales has long since fallen asleep,) Yn hir heb flaenawr fau ragorawl. (And awaits an embracing champion.)

The dragon in Wales thus came to represent strong warriors and the struggle against English domination. This medieval struggle is further underscored by the modern Welsh word for Englishmen: ‘Saeson’.

From the ascension of Henry VII until the Acts of Union 1801, Wales entered a period Siôn Jobbins termed ‘the Sleeping Dragon’.[17] The Laws in Wales Act 1535 and 1542 granted individual rights to the Welsh people, but declared the nation to be incorporated and annexed into the realm of England. The ‘official’ flag of Wales in this period was thus St George’s Cross, while Welsh elements on the Royal Standard or Union Jack remained absent. In 1807, a royal badge was granted to Wales that depicted ‘a red dragon passant standing on a mound’.[18] This was the only official national symbol for Wales, although St David’s Crosses and non-standardised Red Dragons made appearances at the National Eisteddfod. One such flag was ‘prominently positioned’ when the Prince of Wales (Edward VII) visited Liverpool in August 1868 along with flowers and other Welsh symbols:

An excellent feast was given to his Royal Highness in the Gate House Guestroom on his return. The room was magnificently decorated with a large number of evergreen flowers of all manners and colours, bearing Welsh symbols. There was a large green and white banner (Welsh colours), and a red dragon, in a prominent place opposite the table.[19]

Despite this rich history, there was an underlying sentiment that the significance of the Red Dragon had been lost beneath the Union Jack. The most contentious act was the flying of the Union Jack at Caernarfon Castle on St David’s Day.

Tearing down the Union Jack became commonplace from the 1900s to 1930s. One 1914 article discussing the flying of the Red Dragon from Caernarfon mentioned a Mr Thomas Jones who, ‘realised that he didn’t know there was a Welsh national flag’.[20] Although a potentially tongue-in-cheek comment, the perceived antagonism of flying the Union Jack on St David’s Day was indicative of the great importance placed on official national symbolism. The tradition of removing the Union Jack from Eagle Tower continued until 1933, when it was announced that the two flags would fly side-by-side on St David’s Day and the monarch’s birthday.[21]

This nationalistic element of the Welsh flag remained in the post-war period. D.J. Davies’s 1948 article Baner y Ddraig Goch questioned, ‘Watching the Red Dragon flying high on St David’s Day, how many Welsh people have never thought about its history and realised the relationship it has to life in Wales?’[22]

Y Fflam was perhaps best known for its strong nationalistic tendencies; as such, Davies’s article made frequent reference to the ‘invasion’ and ‘freedom’ of Wales. Although unofficial, the survival of Red Dragon was testament to Welsh survival and was a symbol that could never be ‘extinguished’ despite the best efforts of the ‘English’:

English heraldic experts have denied the right of the Red Dragon to be considered the national flag of Wales; However … it is effective “because of a feeling that can not be extinguished, coming from all those things that may be consecrated into a banner nationally, it is the nation’s consciousness”.[23]

By the 1950s, Welsh nationalistic movements had significantly matured, particularly during Gwynfor Evan’s presidency of Plaid Cymru (1945-1981). This was a period in which greater emphasis was placed on the Welsh language and on symbols of nationhood.[24] Furthermore, it was a period in which the duality of ‘British’ and ‘Welsh’ identities began to decline.

Martin Johnes notes that this dual national identity could be seen on VE Day; the Western Mail dedicated pages to both British and Welsh contributions to the war, while Megan Lloyd George MP declared Welsh soldiers to be ‘worthy successors’ of Glyndŵr and Llewellyn.[25]

The 1950s, and the era of decolonisation, was a period in which the survival of the nation became a key debate, of which the Welsh language was a crucial element, and it was a period wherein the idea of Welsh ‘Britishness’ was discussed. This was indeed evident in contemporary newspaper articles. Megan Lloyd George’s 1953 column in the Western Mail entitled ‘Wales must have pride of nation’ suggested that Welsh was ‘becoming a dusty museum piece’ and that Welsh people ‘knew more about the life of Stanley Matthews and Erroll Flynn than of Glyndwr and Llewellyn’.[26]

Another article from March 1953 claimed the ‘Soul of Wales [was] in mortal danger’ due to the decline of the language,[27] while University College Swansea professor, Evan Jones, declared ‘We Ought to Be Ashamed’.[28] Jones believed Wales had lost its values and become ‘non-Welsh’. Jones stated that he was a nationalist, although not politically, and concluded, ‘When you have lost your language you have lost your nationhood’.[29]

Although headlines in early-1953 were dominated by the death of Josef Stalin and the succession of Georgy Malenkov, articles discussing the state of Wales, and Welsh, were commonplace. In this Cold War climate, the survival of the nation state was perhaps more pertinent than ever. It can therefore be of little surprise that Wales was offered token gestures of nationhood throughout the 1950s. In March 1953, the Royal Badge of Wales was granted an Augmentation of Honour and was mounted on a green-white flag. This flag became the first officially recognised flag of Wales. On Friday 13 March, the London Gazette stated that the Queen was ‘graciously pleased’ to announce the ‘greater honour and distinction’ of the Royal Badge, before describing its design:

Within a circular riband argent fimbriated or bearing the motto, Y DDRAIG GOCH DDYRY CYCHWYN, in letters vert, and ensigned with a representation of the Crown proper, an escutcheon per fesse argent and vert and thereon the Red Dragon passant.[30]

The Red Dragon was only a marginal element of the flag, and was dwarfed by the depiction of the crown and riband. Jobbins described it as a ‘rather scrawny red dragon’ and likened it to a Soviet satellite state flag, ‘a kind of Wales-SSR flag; a Welsh flag that wasn’t Welsh’.[31]

The motto itself (‘the Red Dragon gives impetus’) appeared in a cywydd, a form of traditional poem in the form of seven-syllable couplets. The phrase in question was written by Deio ab Ieuan Du in the fifteenth century, with ‘the Red Dragon’ acting as a euphemism for a bull’s phallus. The origin of the phrase was seemingly common knowledge at the time, although the innuendo may have been overlooked in England.[32]

The 1953 flag can principally be seen as a compromise in lieu of granting Wales a position on the Royal Standard. The desire to be represented on the Standard was a long-standing one, however not everyone in Wales agreed. Even as the flag’s design was unveiled to Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Minister for Welsh Affairs, Gwilym Lloyd George, it proved divisive. Churchill thought the motto was ‘unduly flattering’ to Aneurin Bevan, and was, ‘an odious design expressing nothing by spite, malice, ill-will, and monstrosity’.[33] Lloyd George was rather more optimistic, believing the flag would, ‘be something. We get no recognition in Union – badge or flags.’[34]

Others in the public believed Welsh representation to be somewhat of a non-issue. Mr S. Watson Taylor of Porthcawl had written to the Western Mail in March 1953 to assert, ‘Every Welshman should appreciate that those three lions which blazoned the Royal Standard are the same three lions by which Edward I and Henry VIII made Wales a partner in their realm’.[35]

Short of making Wales a ‘partner’ in the Union, the 1953 flag perhaps emphasised English suzerainty over Wales, and inspired little patriotism, in a manner that was the antithesis to the origins of the medieval Red Dragon. Welsh MPs were certainly disappointed by the augmented flag as headline news on 12 March read, ‘Royal Badge does not satisfy Welsh M.P.s: Approach the Minister’.[36]

Plaid Cymru immediately passed a unanimous resolution expressing their ‘deep disappointment’, and stressed that the flag was not an adequate substitution for representation on the Standard.[37] A similar article appeared in the Daily Express entitled ‘Welsh MPs are disappointed’.[38]

Others, such as John Cecil-Williams, Secretary of the London-based Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, wanted the new flag to be on central display during the coronation celebrations and royal visit to Wales in the summer of 1953.[39] Cecil-Williams even suggested the Welsh people should ‘put in their orders’ immediately to ‘give the flag-makers a chance’.[40] Despite this optimism from Cecil-Williams, the new flag was quickly cast aside by the public and has since been confined to history.

On 20 December 1955, Wales was granted another token symbol of nationhood. Cardiff was officially recognised as the capital city of Wales, following a vote by 161 local authorities.

The issue had long been in the newspapers, with some suggesting that it would help Wales to ‘best celebrate the Coronation’.[41] Sian Eleri Vaughan Thomas went as far as suggesting the Queen should open a Welsh Parliament in Cathays Park. Although she was certainly not advocating for devolved powers, rather, ‘Mr Churchill would then tell the Welsh MPs that they would have to do their work in Cardiff instead of in London’.[42]

134 authorities voted for Cardiff, 11 for Caernarfon, 4 for Aberystwyth, and 1 for Swansea.[43] The decision was announced with little grandeur, in the form of a reply to a written question from David Llewellyn MP (Cardiff North) in the Commons.[44] This low-key response was intended to reduce nationalistic fervour. Even in the highest selling newspaper in Wales, the Mirror, and the Daily Express, the news of capital status was relegated to single paragraph articles on page 5 entitled ‘Cardiff it is’ and ‘Cardiff wins’.[45]

The dichotomy of Welsh and British identities was also displayed in the voting process. Robyn Léwis, an Aberystwyth University student at the time, recalled, ‘There were so many Union Jacks flying in Aberystwyth … you’d think Aberystwyth was competing to become the capital of England’.[46] Nevertheless, nationalistic excitement hit the Western Mail headlines, as it was announced that the conferment of the capital was just the beginning:

Finally it should be stressed that capital status is not an end in itself, but a focal point for the expression of the nation’s needs and ideals. To become the mouth-piece of a nation whose culture and spiritual characteristic have survived, notwithstanding tremendous odds, is indeed a high privilege.[47]

Cardiff was to become the focal point of the ‘growing consciousness of nationhood’ in Wales,[48] and was presented the opportunity to express this nationhood through sport, in hosting the 1958 Empire Games. In the absence of institutional forms of nationhood, nationalism in Wales had popularly been expressed through sport, a key element of banal nationalism.[49] Popular sports such as football and rugby not only presented Welsh identity on an international scale, but also heightened the inter-Union rivalry of Wales and England.[50]

With the disuse of the 1953 flag and the growing nationalistic consciousness in Wales, on 23 February 1959 the Queen granted official status to Y Ddraig Goch. Like the conferment of capital status, the news was quietly broken by a response in Parliament.[51]

The next day, on the front page of the Western Mail it was announced that the Red Dragon had won the ‘Battle of the Flag’.[52] Unlike Cecil-Williams’s optimism in 1953, the Red Dragon created a true rush for demand less than a week prior to St David’s Day as flag-makers supplies dwindled.[53]

Official status was hailed as the Western Mail printed testimonials from leading Welsh politicians and academics:[54]

Mr. [Raymond] Gower MP, Barry: There may be some who will suggest things like these are merely trimmings. I think they are much more than trimmings. They can be the expressions of a balanced nationalism which finds pride in its own culture and threatens no one. Dr. Iowerth H. Jones, Swansea Borough Council: I am very glad. The Red Dragon is the traditional flag of Wales. The other design is all right as a badge on government notepaper – but it did look bad on a flag.

There were naysayers, however, particularly in England. The College of Arms and Sir Arthur Strutt, a Home Office official, reaffirmed that the Queen’s position on Welsh nationhood had not changed with this act. Strutt claimed, ‘Wales was never a kingdom, and therefore cannot possess a national flag.’[55] This rather dour view simply served to superficially deny Wales its nationhood, and reasserted Davies’s 1948 claims that ‘English heraldic experts’ were denying the Red Dragon its true national status.

It seems that despite the recognition of Y Ddraig Goch, members of the English political elite still sought to downplay Welsh nationalism in order to perhaps reduce claims for political devolution in the late-1950s.

As Raymond Gower said, the recognition of national symbols such as the Red Dragon and Cardiff’s capital status were not just ‘trimmings’. In an era in which the survival of Wales, and Welsh, came to the forefront of debate, these symbols embodied the nation, its hopes for recognition, and the quest for nationhood.

As a symbol, a national flag is the most prominent and recognisable embodiment of a sovereign nation on the international stage. The recognition of Y Ddraig Goch as the official flag of Wales can therefore be seen as a major step in the quest for nationhood and devolved governance. National symbols of statehood are often disregarded as superficial, or unimportant, however these symbols were a key element in contributing to a sense of banal nationalism in 1950s Wales.

[1] Ernest Renan, Qu’est-ce que’une nation? (Paris: Calmann Lévy, 1882), p. 26

[2] ibid.

[3] ibid.

[4] Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities (London: Verso, 2006), p. 7

[5] Whitney Smith, “Flags of the Arab World” in The Arab World, 5, 10 (October 1958), pp. 12-13

[6] Michael Billig, Banal Nationalism (London: SAGE Publishers, 2010) p. 5

[7] ibid.

[8] Tim Marshall, Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of Flags (London: Elliot & Thompson Ltd., 2017), p. 2

[9] ibid., pp. 139-161

[10] ibid., p. 6

[11] Siôn Jobbins, The Red Dragon: The story of the Welsh Flag (Ceredigion: Y Lolfa Cyf, 2016), p. 14-15

[12] Carl Lofmark, A History of the Red Dragon (Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 1995), p. 43

[13] ibid., p. 50 & 52

[14] Jeffrey Gantz (ed.), The Mabinogion (London: Penguin Classics, 1976), p. 49

[15] Michael John Lewis, “Identity and Status in the Bayeux Tapestry: The Iconographic and Artefactual Evidence” in Anglo-Norman Studies: Proceedings of the Battle Conference, 29 (2007), pp. 100-120, p. 102

[16] Lewis Glyn Cothi, as printed in Howell T. Evans, Wales and the Wars of the Roses (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), p. 10

[17] Siôn Jobbins, The Red Dragon, 2016, p. 32

[18] Carl Lofmark, A History of the Red Dragon, 1995, p. 73

[19] Seren Cymru (Carmarthen), Tuesday 18 August 1868, Issue 9, Number 296, p. 6

[20] Yr Herald Cymraeg (Anglesey), Tuesday 14 April 1914, Number 3016, p. 8

[21] Siôn Jobbins, The Red Dragon, 2016, p. 71

[22] D.J. Davies, “Baner y Ddraig Goch” in Y Fflam, 6 (September, 1948), pp. 3-7, p. 3

[23] ibid., p. 7

[24] Martin Johnes, Wales Since 1945 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2012), p. 179-211; Ned Thomas, “The Language and Nationalism” in W. J. Morgan (ed.), The Welsh Dilemma: Some Essays on Nationalism in Wales (Llandybie: The Merlin Press, 1973), pp. 63-73

[25] Martin Johnes, Wales Since 1945, 2012, p. 30

[26] Western Mail (Cardiff), Saturday 28 February 1953, p. 15

[27] Western Mail (Cardiff), Monday 2 March 1953, p. 3

[28] Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 1 March 1955, p. 3

[29] ibid.

[30] London Gazette (London), Friday 13 March 1953, Issue 39798, p. 1437

[31] Siôn Jobbins, The Red Dragon, 2016, p. 75

[32] “The motto is derived from a cywydd, a Welsh poem, of the fifteenth century in its original form; it has been in popular use throughout the principality for a long time”; The Times (London), Thursday 12 March 1953, Issue 52568, p. 3

[33] Cabinet Committee Meeting 11(53), 12 February 1953, The National Archives, CAB 195/11

[34] ibid.

[35] Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 10 March 1953, p. 6

[36] Western Mail (Cardiff), Thursday 12 March 1953, p. 1

[37] ibid.

[38] Daily Express (London), Thursday 12 March 1953, p. 2

[39] Western Mail (Cardiff), Friday 13 March 1953, p. 5

[40] ibid.

[41] Western Mail (Cardiff), Saturday 28 February 1953, p. 5

[42] ibid.

[43] Martin Johnes, “Cardiff: The Making and Development of the Capital City of Wales” in Contemporary British History, 26, 4 (2012), pp. 509-528, p. 513

[44] “Major Lloyd George: The Government have been impressed by the volume of support in Wales for the view that Cardiff is the city which should most appropriately be regarded as the capital of Wales, and in deference to these views the Government are prepared to recognise Cardiff as the capital of the Principality. No formal measures are necessary to give effect to this decision.”; House of Commons Debate, 20 December 1955, vol. 547 cc310-1W

[45] Daily Mirror (London), Wednesday 21 December 1955, p. 5; Daily Express (London), Wednesday 21 December 1955, p. 5

[46] Siôn Jobbins, “Flying the Flag” in Cambria Magazine, 12, 2, pp. 9-10, p. 9

[47] Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 20 December 1955, p. 4

[48] ibid.

[49] Michael Billig, Banal Nationalism, 2010, p. 109

[50] Tom Gibbons, “Is St. George Enough? The relationship between national identity and football” in Tom Gibbons and Dominic Malcolm (eds.), Sport and English National Identity in a ‘Disunited Kingdom’ (Abingdon: Routledge Taylor & Francis, 2017), pp. 34-48, p. 34

[51] “Mr. H. Brooke: In March, 1953, The Queen was graciously pleased to approve that the Red Dragon Badge, which was appointed as a Royal Badge for Wales over 150 years ago, should be honourably augmented and, further, that when represented on a flag the Royal Badge might be shown with or without the augmentation. I now have it in command from the Queen to say that Her Majesty has been pleased to direct that in future only the Red Dragon on a green and white flag, and not the flag carrying the augmented Royal Badge, shall be flown on Government buildings in Wales and, where appropriate, in London; and my right hon. Friend the Minister of Works will make arrangements accordingly. The augmented Royal Badge will, of course, continue in use for other purposes”; House of Commons Debate, 23 February 1959, vol. 600, cc121-2W

[52] Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 24 February 1959, p. 1

[53] Western Mail (Cardiff), Wednesday 25 February 1959, p. 1

[54] Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 24 February 1959, p. 3

[55] Western Mail (Cardiff), Saturday 28 February 1959, p. 7

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Parliamentary Papers:

Cabinet Committee Meeting 11(53), 12 February 1953, The National Archives, CAB 195/11

House of Commons Debate, 20 December 1955, vol. 547 cc310-1W

House of Commons Debate, 23 February 1959, vol. 600, cc121-2W

The London Gazette:

London Gazette (London), Friday 13 March 1953, Issue 39798

The Times :

The Times (London), Thursday 12 March 1953, Issue 52568

The Daily Mirror :

Daily Mirror (London), Wednesday 21 December 1955

The Daily Express :

Daily Express (London), Thursday 12 March 1953

Daily Express (London), Wednesday 21 December 1955

Seren Cymru :

Seren Cymru (Carmarthen), Tuesday 18 August 1868, Issue 9, Number 296

Yr Herald Cymraeg :

Yr Herald Cymraeg (Anglesey), Tuesday 14 April 1914, Number 3016

The Western Mail:

Western Mail (Cardiff), Saturday 28 February 1953

Western Mail (Cardiff), Monday 2 March 1953

Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 10 March 1953

Western Mail (Cardiff), Thursday 12 March 1953

Western Mail (Cardiff), Friday 13 March 1953

Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 1 March 1955

Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 20 December 1955

Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 24 February 1959

Western Mail (Cardiff), Tuesday 24 February 1959

Western Mail (Cardiff), Wednesday 25 February 1959

Western Mail (Cardiff), Saturday 28 February 1959

Secondary Literature

Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities (London: Verso, 2006)

Billig, Michael, Banal Nationalism (London: SAGE Publishers, 2010)

Davies, D.J., “Baner y Ddraig Goch” in Y Fflam, 6 (September, 1948), pp. 3-7

Davies, John, Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines, and Peredur I Lynch (eds.), The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2008)

Evans, Howell T., Wales and the Wars of the Roses (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015)

Gantz, Jeffrey (ed.), The Mabinogion (London: Penguin Classics, 1976)

Gibbons, Tom and Dominic Malcolm (eds.), Sport and English National Identity in a ‘Disunited Kingdom’ (Abingdon: Routledge Taylor & Francis, 2017)

Hume, I. and W.T.R. Pryce, The Welsh and Their Country (Llandysul, Gomer Press, 1986)

Jobbins, Siôn, “Flying the Flag” in Cambria Magazine, 12, 2, pp. 9-10

Jobbins, Siôn, The Red Dragon: The story of the Welsh Flag (Ceredigion: Y Lolfa Cyf, 2016)

Johnes, Martin, “Cardiff: The Making and Development of the Capital City of Wales” in Contemporary British History, 26, 4 (2012), pp. 509-528

Johnes, Martin, Wales Since 1945 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2012)

Jones, Francis, The Princes and Principality of Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1969)

Lewis, Michael John, “Identity and Status in the Bayeux Tapestry: The Iconographic and Artefactual Evidence” in Anglo-Norman Studies: Proceedings of the Battle Conference, 29 (2007), pp. 100-120

Lloyd, D. Myrddin and Arthur Wade, The Historical Basis of Welsh National: A Series of Lectures (Cardiff: Plaid Cymru, 1950)

Lofmark, Carl, A History of the Red Dragon (Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 1995)

Marshall, Tim, Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of Flags (London: Elliot & Thompson Ltd., 2017)

Morgan, W. J. (ed.), The Welsh Dilemma: Some Essays on Nationalism in Wales (Llandybie: The Merlin Press, 1973)

Renan, Ernest, Qu’est-ce que’une nation? (Paris: Calmann Lévy, 1882)

Smith, Whitney, “Flags of the Arab World” in The Arab World, 5, 10 (October 1958), pp. 12-13