What is the origin of the Welsh Dragon?
The dragon was perhaps first seen in Wales in Roman times. The Romans were thought to have gained knowledge of the dragon from their Parthian enemies, and it is to be seen carved on Trajan’s column. It is probable that the dragon had been seen in the West much earlier than this, as a result of Alexander the Great’s epic journey which commenced it 334 B.C. Alexander marched as far as northern India and after his death, the break up of his mighty empire saw an increase in trade with Africa and India and for the first time commerce with China. The Roman draco was a figure fixed by the head to the top of a staff, with body and tail floating in the air and was the model for the dragon standard used by the Anglo Saxons. In the Bayeux Tapestry, this device is depicted as the standard of King Harold, although written records seem to disagree. In 1190 ‘the terrible standard of the dragon’ was borne before the army of Richard Coeur-de-Lion in an attack at Messina. The seventh century Welsh hero
