Wales has many interesting traditions and cultural differences. It has its own language, and it can find it Brythonic roots to around 550AD. Brythonic is a language family comprising of Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. It also has a festival celebrating the Welsh Language called the Eisteddfod which happens annually, and the locations changes from South to North Wales. St Davids is the patron saint of Wales and is celebrated on the 1st of March, where traditionally you would wear a traditional Welsh outfit or dress and have a leek and daffodil. Younger children tend to do it now in school.[20]
The national symbols of Wales are the dragon, daffodil and leek. The dragon has many theories of where it originated, from one being Henry VII to Cadwaladr but more than likely it was Roman troops who had brough it from Dacia which is now modern-day Romania. The leek originates from a story about a battle that took place in the 7th century, and it was the celts against the Saxons. King Cadwaladr of Gwynedd supposedly told his soldiers before battle to wear the leek so they could identify friendly soldiers in battle. The daffodil became popular during the 19th century and meaning of daffodil in Welsh is cenhinen bedr which translates to “ST Peters leek”, it is thought to be linked to the leek. The national food is the Cawl.[21]
There is also a Welsh valentine called Saint Dwynwen and is celebrate on the 25th of January. Saint Dwynwen is the patron saint of lovers; she is not officially commemorated by the catholic or Anglican church but has been by the Orthodox church.[22] But out of all these the main thing that most Welsh people would say that makes them proud of being Welsh is rugby.
