The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!
This is the writing prompt for March, so it seems only appropriate to pick a prompt suggested by Dax (alter3ch0) in the forum, suggesting members could talk about their country’s flag. I’ve been under no pains to hide where I come from in these posts, so if you’ve read a few you probably know that I’m Welsh… and 1st March is St David’s Day, usually observed in Wales by a celebration of all things Welsh: wearing daffodils and leeks, eating traditional Welsh food like cawl and bara brith, and donning traditional Welsh dress. I must confess that the most I usually do is wear a daffodil!
In any case, it seems like an excellent time to tell you about the Welsh flag—and talking about flags is our writing prompt for this month for everyone.
The Welsh flag is, of course, “Y Ddraig Goch” (the Red Dragon). In the terms of heraldry, it’s a red dragon passant on a green and white field. The green and white are technically the colours of the Tudor family, who were descended from a Welshman, Owen Tudor. The dragon is a symbol of Wales because of a story that’s linked to Arthurian legends (which are also Welsh in origin), in which a king called Vortigern (Gwrtheyrn, in Welsh) is trying to build a fort in a place called Dinas Emrys, but every night, every stone is shaken down and every day the building has to begin again. He’s told by a boy called Emrys (who would grow up to be Myrddin/Merlin) that the building is being toppled by two dragons trapped beneath the ground, who fight during the night and rest during the day. One is white and the other red—and the red one symbolises Wales.
The dragons come from an older story again, recorded now in a collection of old Welsh stories called The Mabinogion, in which the dragons are one of three “plagues” disrupting Britain. They get trapped and then buried in a stone chest by a king called Lludd… in Dinas Emrys! So that’s how they got there…
I always think the Welsh flag is one of the coolest, since we literally have a dragon, but I’m ready to be wrong! Do you have good stories about your own regional or country flag to share? You can post them in the comments here, or write about them if you’re not sure what to write on your postcards in March!
17 comments so far
Great idea!
Can't wait to write about my country flag,glad to have stamps with it😊
really want to tell the world through postcrossing moment about my country's flag meaning.
Singapore flag - 2 colours "Red n White" to signify our goals to achieve brotherhood n equality through purity n virtue.
5 Stars depicting democracy, peace, progress, justice n equality.
Singapore is both a country n a city.
Awesome! 👏🏼 I love the idea and I already know what postcard I will pick to write about it 😊
Why is the Red Flag so red?
Because it was dyed red with the blood of martyrs!
I like this, since I was young I was always fascinated to learn and read about flags and the meaning behinds, I will talk about Iraq flag, and great story about Wales' flag btw 🙂
I was born in The Netherlands and the colours from the Dutch flag are; Red, White & Blue with and orange Wimpel.
I live since 2007 in Canada and the colours from the Canadian are; Red & White. With a symbol from the Maple Leaf.
Normandy with 2 leopards. The 3rd the English kept it to represent the Channel Islands. We are like cousins with them.
Wow! This topic involves history, revolution, liberty, politic values and ideology of those founders of a country.
Tere! Flag of Estonia has three colours: blue, black and white. Blue: the color of faith, loyalty and devotion, the blue sky, sea and lakes of Estonia.
Black: tragic past of Estonian nation, the traditionally black jacket of the Estonian peasant during past times.
White: the striving towards enlightenment and virtue. White is also the color of birch bark and snow, and summer nights illuminated by the midnight sun. (Wiki)
The United Kingdom flag (Union Flag, often colloquially called "Union Jack") is really 3 flags laid on top of each other: the red cross on white (St George's Flag, for England); the white saltire on blue (St. Andrew's Flag, for Scotland); and the red saltire on white (St. Patrick's Flag, for Northern Ireland).
The Welsh flag was not included - because Wales had already been conquered and absorbed by England at the time the Union Flag was created. But shanaqui already told us the story of the flag of that proud nation. And of course it really is the most interesting and beautiful one of the four. I think the Union Flag could do with having a dragon added!
Legend tells us that the Austrian flag (red-white-red) dates back to the crusades. In 1191, after a battle, the white tunic of Duke Leopold V of Babenberg was covered in blood (red). But when he took off his belt, the cloth underneath was unstained (white). The tunic was used to gather the troops and later became the national flag of Austria. Apparently it is one of the oldest national flags in the world.
Personally I find the story very grim and would much prefer something more uplifting.
The German country flag is a tricolor made up of a 3 stripe pattern in Black - Red - Golden that is horizontally placed - Back then in the nineteenth century, Germany consisted of a lot of different duchys. In mid 1800s, disarm battles that aimed at a parting from Napoléon's reign over the majority of the duchys, students wore uniforms in the colours of Black - Red - Golden. Encyclopedia writes about similarity in the cotton-dyed simple uniforms of the students to the likewise flag that was waved by them in the disarm processes:
"From Black (exploitation) to Red (Bloody battles) to Golden (Light of freedom)" this slogan said.
There is also the Franconian regional flag that is a symbol in red jags on white ground symbolising Father, Son and Holy Ghost and the four sky directions.
Korea's March begins with Samiljeol (Independence Movement Day).
This national holiday commemorates the day when the Korean people resisted Japanese colonial rule, proclaimed the Declaration of Independence, and made their aspirations for independence known to the world.
To honor this day, I have created a postcard featuring the Taegeukgi (Korean national flag).
Exciteddddddd !!! 🤗
It's so good.😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁🤩🥰🤣😮
Hello dear postcrossers,
I'm from Sri Lanka and below is about our national flag:
The Sri Lankan flag, also known as the Lion Flag, features a golden lion holding a sword, a maroon background, four golden bo leaves, a yellow border, and two vertical stripes of saffron and green, representing the Sinhalese, Buddhist virtues, minority groups, and the country's unity, respectively.
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the symbolism:
Lion: Represents the Sinhala people and their bravery.
Sword: Symbolizes the country's sovereignty and the defense of the homeland.
Maroon Background: Represents the Sinhalese ethnicity.
Golden Bo Leaves: Represent Buddhism and its influence on the nation, as well as the four virtues of kindness, compassion, happiness, and equanimity.
Yellow Border: Represents the various minority communities of the country.
Saffron Stripe: Represents the Tamil ethnicity.
Green Stripe: Represents the Muslim ethnicity