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Wales (United Kingdom)

Cymru

2:3, also 3:5 by Christer Berggren

Origin of Y Ddraig Goch
History of Y Ddraig Goch
The absence of the Welsh dragon on the Union Jack
Prince of Wales's standard
Chartists flag

Origin of Y Ddraig Goch

Y Ddraig Goch (the red dragon) is the national flag of Wales, and has been officially recognised as such since the 1950s. The white-over-green field is in the livery colours of the Tudors, the Welsh dynasty that once sat on the English throne.
Roy Stilling, 27 November 1995

Conventional wisdom is that the 'draco' standards of the Romans were adopted by the Britons, probably as a metal (possibly real gold) head with a windsock type of body made of silk. In the mouth was a whistling type device that would make sounds as it was waved with vigor. Supposedly used by King Arthur, certainly used by the Wessex lords in the 700s, the emblem has been used by Britons right up to the present time.
Dave Martucci, 27 January 1998

Today the dragon is the most prominent Welsh symbol. It is an ancient symbol, already prominent across England and Wales in the years after the departure of the Romans. With the invasions of the Angles and Saxons, the ancient Britons and their dragon symbol was pushed back towards Wales. The dragon has always been a symbol of a people, not an individual.
Robin Ashburner, ICV York, July 2001

Here is a brief summary of what Perrin in British Flags and Giles-Scott in The Romance of Heraldry have written about the dragon.

A dragon was the standard of a Roman cohort which was a tenth of a legion. After the Romans left Britain it was used by both the Britons and the Saxons. A golden dragon was the principal war standard of the Saxons of Wessex, and was carried by them at the battle of Burford in 752. In the eleventh century battles the king positioned himself between his personal standard, which was the rallying point and the dragon standard which was carried by a standard bearer chosen for his strength and prowess. After the battle of Hastings the dragon standard was adopted by the Normans. No record of its use in Scotland after the battle of the Standard in 1138,where it was borne as the Scottish royal standard. A dragon standard was taken on the Third Crusade