Last modified: 2005-07-16 by rob raeside
Keywords: wales | dragon: golden | lions: 4 | lion rampant | glyndŵr | owain glyndŵr |
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![[Welsh Separatist flag]](../images/g/gb-w-ogd.jpg)
located by Dafydd Young
The Lion on Gold and Red, is the Banner of Owain Glyndwr, as born on his
shield.
Philip R. Williams, 19 September 2002
The flag which is referred to as the 'Owen Glyndwr flag' is actually the the
Prince of Wales flag and was used by Glyndwr as he claimed to be the true prince
of Wales. This armorial bearing is now used by the modern 'prince of Wales' [sic] as
his emblem in Wales.
Muiris Mag Ualghairg, 18 April 2003
The quartered and counterchanged flag was not Glyndwr's personal blazon
(Glyndwr had been Arundel's squire in the Scottish campaigns and refused to pay
the money demanded of him to furnish his knighthood - so I presume him to not be
possessed of a personal coat of arms). These arms are the badge of office of the
"twysog cymru" - the elective office of "chief judge of Wales", usually selected
from somebody descended from noble parentage who must be qualified to interpret
the complex legal system created by Hwyel Dda in the 9th century whose system of
inheritance prevented the accumulation of undue wealth and influence and which
essentially condemned the rule of the English feudal lords and rejected the idea
that noblemen stood outside of the law - the issue with Lord Grey that triggered
the war, when Glyndwr found that the king chose to back wealth and privilege
instead of upholding Glyndwr's legal rights. It deeply annoys a fair number of
people to see Prince Charles being styled "Twysog" as if the office could be
bestowed by the crown (or inherited - people claiming to be the "true" twysog
cymru are equally annoying). It offended 13th century Welshmen when the
Llewelyns tried to "modernise" Wales by feudalising the office to keep it in
their family. Prior to Glyndwr, the previous elective twysog was Owain Llawgoch
who was assassinated in France as he tried to assemble an invasion to attack
England on the British mainland as an ally of the French king, and he was
bearing this coat of arms in the wars there whilst Glyndwr fought in Scotland.
The banner that Glyndwr is reported to have carried into battle was the Golden
Dragon (on a white field I think) i.e. Glyndwr was filling both the role of
twysog and "dwg"(war-leader) - the dragons were battle flags in Wales, being
derived from the Roman Cavalry's standards (not the infantry cohorts) which had
originally been foreign mercenaries from somewhere in what is now Turkic Asia,
peoples who lived in the saddle and are reputed to have worshipped swords that
they stuck point first into the ground and prayed before, as Christians later
prayed on the hilts of their swords. Their banners were as described by another
contributor, a sort o