D for David and Dragon

From my daughter I received this tranquil photo of my son-in-law David on his holiday from Wales at Tullarbo. The earliest known human remains discovered in modern-day Wales date from 230,000 years ago. Hope you get some relaxing time away from your Cymreag academic life and in close contact with Norwegian nature, even though our remains only date from 13.000 years ago.

With reference to my Monday post about Union Jack, I therefore in addition present the Y Ddraig Goch (eng. The Red Dragon) or the Flag of Wales.
The flag was granted official status in 1959, but the red dragon itself has been associated with Wales for centuries; indeed, though the origin of the adoption of the dragon symbol is now lost in history and myth. A possible theory is that the Romans brought the emblem to what is now Wales during their occupation of Britain in the form of the Draco standards born by the Roman cavalry. The green and white stripes of the flag were additions by the House of Tudor, the Welsh dynasty that held the English throne from 1485 to 1603. Green and white are also the colours of the leek, another national emblem of Wales.

The oldest known use of the dragon to symbolize Wales is from the Historia Brittonum, written around 830, but it is popularly supposed to have been the battle standard of King Arthur and other ancient Celtic/Romano-British leaders. It is particularly associated in Welsh poetry with Cadwaladr king of Gwynedd from c.655 to 682.For more interpretations ABC Wednesday letters, you can log on via the MckLinky enabled site