| Royal Badge of Wales | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=icon} | |
| Armiger | Charles III |
| Adopted | 2008 |
| Motto | Pleidiol Wyf i'm Gwlad,Welsh for "I am true to my country" |
| Badge | Within a circular riband vert fimbriated Or bearing the mottoPleidiol Wyf i'm Gwlad in letters the same and ensigned with a representation of the Crown proper, an escutcheon quarterly Or and gules four lions passant guardant counterchanged armed and langued azure, encircled by a wreath alternating ofleek,thistle,clover,leek androse. |
TheRoyal Badge of Wales was approved in May 2008. It is based on thearms borne by the 13th-centuryWelsh princeLlywelyn ab Iorwerth (blazoned quarterly Or and gules, four lions passant guardant counterchanged), with the addition ofSt Edward's Crown atop a continuous scroll which, together with a wreath consisting of the plant emblems of the fourcountries of the United Kingdom, surrounds the shield.[1] The motto which appears on the scroll,PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD ('I am true to my country'), is taken from thenational anthem of Wales; it was also an element of the Welsh designs for£1 coins minted from 1985 until 2000. The badge formerly appeared on the covers ofAssembly Measures;[2] since the2011 referendum, it now appears on the cover ofActs[3] passed by theSenedd (as the Assembly became in 2020) and its escutcheon, ribbon and motto are depicted on theWelsh Seal.
The current badge follows in a long line of heraldic devices representing Wales. Its predecessors have all been variations on either theRed Dragon, an ancient emblem revived byHenry VII, or the arms of Llywelyn. Whereas the three historical kingdoms ofEngland,Scotland andIreland are represented in theroyal arms of the United Kingdom, Wales has no such representation as it was annexed and incorporated into the Kingdom of England. The badge has been referenced as a coat of arms for Wales with its use by theWelsh Parliament in acts and laws.[4]
Following the death of QueenElizabeth II, the design of KingCharles III's royal cypher was announced on 27 September 2022, which featured theTudor crown rather thanSt Edward's Crown. TheCollege of Arms had envisioned that the Tudor crown would be used in future in representations of the royal arms and on crown badges,[5] an update that was announced on 10 October 2024.[6]
Before theNorman Conquest, Wales was ruled by a number of kings and princes, whose dominions shifted and sometimes merged following thevagaries of war, marriage and inheritance. All these kings and princes were ascribed personal coats of arms, oftenretrospectively if they lived before the dawn ofheraldry as it is currently known, and these were borne by their descendants in Wales. The two principal Welsh kingdoms were those ofGwynedd, in the north, andDeheubarth in the south. Of these, the more successful, and the last, finally, to fall, was that of Gwynedd, and the arms now borne by the Princes of Wales as aninescutcheon since 1910 are the historic arms of the dynasty of Gwynedd as borne by the last native Princes of Wales, includingLlywelyn ab Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) and his grandsonLlywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn the Last). These arms have the blazonQuarterly Or and Gules, four lions passant guardant counterchanged, armed and langued Azure.
A daughter of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth was Elen the Younger ferch Llywelyn, Countess of Fife and (by her second marriage) Countess of Mar. Her daughterIsabella of Mar marriedRobert, the Bruce, King of Scots and had one child by him,Marjorie Bruce, who was the mother of the firstStewart monarch,Robert II of Scotland. His direct descendant,James VI of Scotland became also King of England as James I, and is the direct ancestor of every subsequent English monarch, includingQueen Elizabeth II, who is thereby (and through other lines also) the direct lineal descendant of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.
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| The traditional arms of Llywelyn:Quarterly Or and Gules, four lions passant guardant counterchanged, armed and langued Azure. |
When in 1911 the futureKing Edward VIII was madePrince of Wales, a warrant exemplifying his arms was issued. Along with the usualroyal armsdifferenced by a "label" of three points, his maincoat of arms included an "inescutcheon surtout" crowned with the heir apparent'scoronet and containing the arms of Llywelyn of Gwynedd to represent theprincipality of Wales.[7]
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 bookA Complete Guide to Heraldry,Arthur Charles Fox-Davies had written: "It is much to be regretted that the arms ofHRH The Prince of Wales do not include...any allusion to his dignities of Prince of Wales orEarl of Chester." The only allusion, before this innovation, to Wales in the royal arms had been the inclusion, among many other badges, ofon a mount vert a dragon rouge – the royal badge on which the presentflag of Wales is based.
In the 1960s, a banner of the principality's arms, defaced with an inescutcheon of his heraldic coronet, was introduced for the Prince of Wales's use in Wales.
In 2007 thePresiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales entered into discussions with the Prince of Wales and theCollege of Arms regarding a grant of arms for official use by the Assembly.[8] A new royal badge designed by theGarter King of Arms, Peter Gwynne-Jones, was granted in 2008 based on the arms of Llywelyn.[9]
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|---|---|---|
| The "Arms of Wales" as depicted in theAnnals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales by Thomas Nicholas, 1872. | The Arms of the Prince of Wales. Used byPrince Edward, then byPrince Charles and nowPrince William. | The personal flag of the Prince of Wales for use in Wales created in the 1960s. |
| The Red Dragon of Wales | |
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 | |
| Versions | |
.svg){kind=icon} Augmented badge of 1953 | |
| Adopted | 1801; augmented in 1953 |
| Badge | Within a circular ribandArgent fimbriatedOr bearing the mottoY 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 |
Henry VII had the red dragon of Wales depicted on hisroyal standard, overlaid on a green and white field (thelivery of the Tudor family) when he marched through Wales on his way toBosworth Field. His standard bearer,Sir William Brandon, was killed byRichard III on the battlefield. After the battle, the standard was carried in state toSt Paul's Cathedral to be blessed.[10]
During his reign Henry VII also appointed William Tyndale or Tendale a royalpursuivant called theRouge Dragon Pursuivant. The badge of this office was a red dragon on a green mount.
The red dragon did not become an official royalheraldic badge until 1800, whenGeorge III issued a royal warrant confirming the badge, blazoned as:On a mountVert adragon passant with wings elevatedGules.[11]
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.[12] (A similar label of three points is used in his arms, crest and supporters for the same reason.)
In 1953 the badge was given anaugmentation of honour. The augmented badge isblazoned:Within a circular ribandArgent fimbriatedOr bearing the mottoY 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.[13]Winston Churchill, the prime minister at the time, detested the badge's design, as is revealed in the following Cabinet minute from 1953:[14]
P.M. [Churchill]
- Odious design expressing nothg. but spite, malice, ill-will and monstrosity.
- Words (Red Dragon takes the lead) are untrue and unduly flattering toBevan.
Ll.G. [Gwilym Lloyd George – Minister for Food, later Home Secretary]
- Wd. rather be on R[oyal] Arms. This (dating from Henry VII) will be somethg.
- We get no recognition in Union – badge or flags.
In 1956 this badge was added to the arms of the Welsh capital cityCardiff by placing it on collars around the necks of the twosupporters of the shield.[15] The badge was the basis of a flag of Wales in which it was placed on a background divided horizontally with the top half white and bottom half green.[16] In 1959 Government use of this flag was dropped in favour of thecurrent flag[17][18] at the urging of theGorsedd of Bards.[19]
The badge was used by theWelsh Office and its successor theWales Office until January 2017.[20][21] It was used in the interim logo of the National Assembly for Wales until the "dynamic dragon" logo was adopted.[22]
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| The 1901 red dragon badge of the Prince of Wales with the white label of three points. | The coat of arms ofCardiff, with the badge suspended from the necks of the supporters. | TheFlag of Wales used from 1953 to 1959, with the augmented badge. |
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| ThePrince of Wales's feathers badge, first used byEdward the Black Prince the heir of KingEdward III of England. | Theleek is a traditional symbol of Wales and is used by theWelsh Guards regiment of theBritish Army as itscap badge. | Thedaffodil is thenational flower of Wales and is sometimes used in heraldry, such as this coat of arms ofEarl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor. |
Media related toCoats of arms of Wales at Wikimedia CommonsRoyal heraldry in the United Kingdom | ||
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| United Kingdom | .svg) | |
| England | ||
| Scotland | ||
| Wales | ||