Coat of arms of Wales
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The Coat of Arms of the Principality of Wales is a coat of arms used by the Prince of Wales. Unlike the Coat of Arms of England and the Coat of Arms of Scotland in their respective countries, it has not very often been used in Wales as a national symbol in the past. However, it is now increasingly seen, without the crown.[citation needed]
It may be blazoned quarterly Or and gules, four lions countercharged langued and armed azure. It is based on the arms borne by Llywelyn the Great, the famous 13th century Welsh prince.
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[edit] Royal badge
A Royal heraldic badge for Wales has been used since the reign of Henry VII, which is: On a mount Vert a dragon passant with wings elevated Gules[1]. In 1953 the badge was given an augmentation of honour. The augmented badge is blazoned: Within a circular riband Argent fimbriated Or bearing the motto Y DDRAIG GOCH DDYRY CYCHWYN ["the red dragon inspires action"], 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[2].
In other words the augmented badge places the red dragon upon a shield divided horixontally into a white top half and green bottom half, surrounded with a scroll and topped with the royal crown.
In 1956 this badge was added to the arms of the Welsh capital city Cardiff by placing it on collars around the necks of the two supporters of the shield.[3]
The badge was the basis of a flag of Wales[4] in which it was placed on a background divided horizontally with the top half white and bottom half green. In 1959 Government use of this flag was dropped in favour of the current flag[5][6] at the urging of the Gorsedd of Bards[7]
The badge is currently used by the Wales Office[8] and is printed on Statutory Instruments made by the National Assembly for Wales.[9] The badge was previously used in the corporate logo of the Assembly until the "dynamic dragon" logo was adopted.[10]
There is a further badge for Wales, belonging to the Princes of Wales since 1901, of the red dragon on a mount but with a label of three points Argent about the shoulder to difference it from the monarch's badge.[11] (A similar label of three points is used in his arms, crest and supporters for the same reason.)
[edit] History
Before the English conquest, Wales was ruled by a number of regional Kings and Princes, whose dominions shifted and sometimes merged following the vagaries of war (mainly with the English) and marriage and inheritance. All these Kings and Princes were ascribed personal coats of arms, often retrospectively if they lived before the dawn of heraldry, and these were borne by their descendants in Wales. The two principal Welsh kingdoms were those of north Wales (Gwynedd) and south Wales (Deheubarth). Of these, the most successful, and the last, finally, to fall, was that of Gwynedd, and the arms now borne by the English Princes of Wales as an inescutcheon are the historic arms of the dynasty of Gwynedd as borne by the last native Princes of Wales, including Llywelyn the Great and Llywelyn the Last.
The arms associated with former Kingdom of Powys are a red lion rampant on a gold field. They were used by the House of Mathrafal when Powys was an independent kingdom and later by the Earls of Powis (de la Pole and de Cherleton families) up until the late Middle Ages and can now be found on various civic coats of arms.
The arms associated with the principal dynasty of south Wales (Deheubarth) are, on the other hand, a gold lion rampant on a red field within an indented (sometimes engrailed) gold border. Although never included in the English Royal Arms, they continue to be borne by families descended from the dynasty of Deheubarth: most notably by the Talbot family (Earl of Shrewsbury, etc) which married an heiress of the dynasty in the 14th century.
When in 1911 the future King Edward VIII was made Prince of Wales, a warrant exemplifying his arms was issued. Along with the usual royal arms differenced by a "label" of three points, his main arms included an "inescutcheon surtout" crowned with the heir apparent's coronet and containing the arms of Llywelyn of Gwynedd to represent the principality of Wales.[12]
It is unclear whether, before this date, they were thought of as the "arms of Wales" or simply as the "arms of Llywelyn". But they had certainly not previously been used by heirs to the English or British thrones; indeed, in his 1909 book A Complete Guide to Heraldry, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies had written: "It is much to be regretted that the arms of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales do not include...any allusion to his dignities of Prince of Wales or Earl of Chester." The only allusion, before this innovation, to Wales in the Royal arms had been the inclusion, among many other badges, of on a mount vert a dragon rouge — the royal badge on which the present Flag of Wales is based.
In the 1960s, the Prince of Wales decided to use a banner of the Principality's arms, defaced with an inescutcheon of his heraldic coronet, when performing royal duties in Wales.
In 2007 the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales entered into discussions with the Prince of Wales and the College of Arms regarding a grant of arms for official use by the assembly.[13]
[edit] References
- ^ Parker, J. A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, [1894 2000]
- ^ The London Gazette, 13 March, 1953
- ^ Hartemink, R. International Civic Arms
- ^ Flags of the World, "Wales"
- ^ Barraclough, EMC. Flags of the World, 1965.
- ^ Hansard (unofficial text) archive experiment, HC Deb 23 February 1959 C121-2
- ^ Lofmark, C. A History of the Red Dragon
- ^ Wales Office
- ^ Welsh Statutory Instruments - Town and Country Planning, Wales
- ^ BBC NI - Learning - A State Apart - Intergovernmental Relations - Overview
- ^ The London Gazette, 10 December, 1901
- ^ The London Gazette, 7 March 1911
- ^ BBC NEWS | Politics | Wales politics | Wales@Westminster newslog
[edit] External links
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