#Welsh Dragon

[llyfrenfys]

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT Y DDRAIG TRAWS!

Certainly! I'm more than happy to oblige.

First though I'm gonna need to tldr: the history of Y Ddraig Goch before we get onto the (accidentally) canonically trans part.

A brief history of Y Ddraig Goch:

(The modern Welsh flag)

Y Ddraig Goch first appears in the tales of the Mabinogi (Charlotte Guest version) in the tale of Lludd and Llefelys where it is fighting a white dragon. The fight is also described/expanded upon in the c. 829 AD text Historia Brittonum (attributed to Nennius) - where the red dragon represents Wales and the white dragon represents the Anglo-Saxons. In the story the red dragon triumphs over the white. Of course, Geoffrey of Monmouth also covers the story c. 1136 in Historia Regnum Brittaniae in which he introduces the concept of the red dragon heralding the arrival of King Arthur.

Geoffrey of Monmouth claims Arthur used a banner featuring a golden dragon. But we also know the accuracy of Monmouth can be questionable at times. Owain Glyndŵr did use a banner with a golden dragon called Y Ddraig Aur - raised in 1401 at Caernarfon - Glyndŵr chose this banner as a nod to the supposed banner of Arthur and his father.

Later on the Tudor monarchs (being a Welsh family) adopted a red dragon on a white and green background in their heraldry. Eventually Y Ddraig Goch on a white and green background became the official badge of Wales in 1800. The design became the official flag of Wales in 1959.

Y Ddraig Traws:

Now for the thing you're all here for -

So, as outlined, the history of the dragon as a national symbol of Wales goes back a long way. If we're just talking post-1959, there's some interesting implications for Y Ddraig Goch's depiction.

This is what the Welsh flag (and Y Ddraig Goch) looked like in 1959 when it was officially adopted as the flag of Wales. It looks broadly the same as the first flag and has some common features - such as not having a penis (or, as in the correct heraldic terminology - a pizzle). Meanwhile, in the arms of the Tudors (specifically Henry VII)

(Tudor dragon with pizzle) vs (dragon on the flag of Cardiff - pizzleless)

the penis is almost always included. So much to the point that the present royal family still includes the penis. While pretty much 0 depictions of the dragon in Wales include a penis. So you could interpret this as the dragon is seen as male only by the British royal family and as female everywhere else (which kinda implies that at some point the Tudor dragon had an mtf transition in Wales and she keeps getting misgendered by the royal family every time she is depicted in (mostly) England).

So much to the point that in 1995 this pound coin was made by the Royal Mint featuring the pizzle on the dragon with all four feet touching the ground as opposed to standing up (passant rather than rampant).

But in Wales you'd be hard pressed to see a pizzled dragon anywhere. Ergo, we can only conclude Y Ddraig Goch is trans and she transitioned in Wales and keeps getting misgendered in England.

[note: This is mostly tongue in cheek - but I do think it's fun to extrapolate that the Welsh dragon is trans because of the differences in depiction between Wales and England. Like many things Welsh, it is misrepresented by England and the idea of the Welsh dragon being misgendered only in England is, I think, a good metaphor for a whole lot of English treatment of Wales.]

Unrelatedly, there is a gay Welsh flag held at the National Museum of Wales which has a very wonky dragon which I find very endearing.

(cleaned up version I made)

So much so I made it an emoji in my Welsh bilingual LGBTQIA+ Discord (requirements for joining are - be 16+, either speak or are learning Welsh and identify as LGBTQIA+ in some way. Dm for link!).

(triaist ti 'you tried' emoji)

~ Completely unrelatedly ~ never forget the time someone was trying to homophobic to me by suggesting that I was disrespecting all the soldiers who died 'for the Welsh flag' by making it rainbow colours and not red - arguing that any change of colour of the dragon was disrespectful. Reader, my bus pass at the time for Mid Wales Travel had a purple dragon on it.

[procrastiel]

just woke up and guess what I’m thinking about

[delyth-thomas-art]

BOOP?

[pixelplushies]

Taking a break from cows.. it's TY dragon time!

Here we have Y Ddraig Goch beanie baby and beanie buddy, Legend and Dwynwen!

The two Ddraig Goch were picked up on eBay after visiting Wales only to find the new Y Ddraig Goch beanie babies stocked in the gift shops there are very poor quality material now.

Legend is one of my childhood beanies who has stuck with me!

Dwynwen was a new eBay purchase this year (2024)!

[draconesmundi]

Happy Dracones Monday! Ddraig Goch!

Happy Dracones Monday! today's dragon is Ddraig Goch, the red dragon of Wales! This is a small firedrake species, very closely related to the common firedrakes found throughout western Europe, but slightly smaller and far brighter red in colour.

For a new Dracones Mundi dragon every monday, follow @draconesmundi! :3

[dragons-daily]

Flag of Wales in the style of the Qing dynasty flag. The flag of the Welsh dynasty if you will.

[ibrithir-was-here]

Tada! Very fun commission for the lovely @scifrey for her upcoming book “Nine-Tenths” a super cute fantasy romance set in the fan favorite of all Tumblr writers-the coffee shop. It’s got pining bisexuals, charming Welsh dragon guys and a heck of a Meet Awkward xD

The book is dropping on Wattpad on January 13th and you should 1000% check it out!

[valhallaimcomin]

St. Barnard, as I like the call him ✨️

[artofgaryyeung]

Inktober Day 14 - Castle

IG artofgaryyeung

FB artofgaryyeung

YouTube garyinwales

[starrystillness]

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi, Aberteifi

[mythicmayhemcomic]

The Tale Of Gytrash

Come meet the spooky puppo Gytrash! Also! Mythic Mayhem now has its own website! Which is mobile friendly too!

[procrastiel]

David gets the trophy, Michael gets the kiss

I think we all won.

[letstalkbeautyuk]

Criw Cymraeg - Welsh School Badges 🐉 🐲

[toppyflygon]

How fitting it’s year of the Dragon since today is Appreciate a Dragon day/Dragon Appreciation day. In traditional fashion I draw Willis and the Welsh Dragon. Been a while since I last drew the Welsh Dragon 

[jacksdoodlesnshit]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Happy St. David’s Day! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[nazrigar]

Smaugust 2022 - Monsters of Mythology, Science Fantasy Edition

So! For this Smaugust, I basically revisit my Pantheons setting, and decided to do some Science Fantasy interpretations of mythologies beasties. Pantheons is essentially a what-if scenario in the future, where gods and mortals walk alongside one another, and by extension, mythology’s monsters.

Batch 1: Chaoskampf-Level Giants

- Gonggong/Kanghui: An insane dragon representing the Devonian Mass Extinction, not satisfied being a giant water elemental, wants to learn the secrets of human-god magic.

- Behemoth: A Cosmic T.rex Guardian of a titanic planet where many of the major monsters of the Galaxy originates from. As a representation of the K-Pg extinction event, his fists are usually all that’s needed to obliterate anything, but a energy laser is always convenient!

- Niddhogg: A snarky, short tempered cosmic Spinosaurus that can tear through the fabric of space, entering in-and-out of Yggdrasil, snapping up planets in his maw. He less represents ONE extinction, and more how extinction can come in anytime.

- Orochi: Once a mighty Yokai that represented the Anthropocene Extinction Event, he’s now reduced to a ghost trapped in Amaterasu’s sword, Kusanagi.

Batch 2: “True” Dragons

- The Red Dragon of Wales: A guardian of the realm of the Arthurian realm called Avalon, beloved by all. (Avalon is a mix between The British Isles, France and Iberia, aka the areas where

- The Cuelebre: The Golden Dragon, who found out that you can get more treasure by selling booze rather trying to raid and hoard gold.

- Illuyaka: A Great Electric Eel, who USED to be a big shot, but his confidence was absolutely crushed after losing to Tarhunz, the Hittite Storm God (well... one of them. They have a lot).

- Zmeya Gorynishche: An evil slaving dragon who haunts mortals after having lost her pups, and now leads a band of monstrous pirates.

Batch 3: Great Shapeshifters

- Kukulcan/Quetzalcoatl: A Grand Beast that’s also the head of multiple pantheons, he’s actually pretty pleasant. Doesn’t like Tezcatlipoca much though.

- Fafnir: A mobster dwarf AND a dragon. Don’t make him mad, lest he feels peckish, so be sure to be on time to pay back those loans...

- Nammu/Tiamat: Both a queen and a literal monster, she revels in being both the highest authority in the Mesopotamian Pantheon AND a giant monster feared by all. She loves picking on Marduk.

- Rahab/Sandalphon: A Cherubim who was once a mighty dragon-looking angel, feared by many, until she interacted more and more with the galaxy, and decided, in her heart, she’d feel more comfortable having a more humanoid form. She can still shapeshift to the dragon form however, when it’s convenient.