One-third of people can’t correctly recall the Welsh flag – but love a dragon
Flags play a vital role in representing countries, states, cities, and other political entities.
However, they can also represent much bigger things for people, like pride, nationalism, and identification for people in an ever-expanding world.
You might be able to recognise different flags when you see them in context, like during the Olympics. Commonwealth Games or big celebrations, but how many would you be able to recreate from memory alone?
In a new study, Preply (a global language learning community) analysed which British flags were the most recognisable, comparing the Union Jack with the Welsh and Scottish flags.
So which came out on top?
Only 65% of study participants were able to recall the Welsh flag with accuracy. 69% of people remembered the red white and green of the flag, however, what participants struggled to get correct was the placement of the colours, with one participant forgetting about the green stripe altogether.
However, we can see for sure that the iconic red dragon does stick in people’s minds as a representation of Wales, with 91% of people getting the symbol correct.
However, when it comes to drawing the dragon, understandably that was a different matter altogether. Big shout out to the person who thought ‘you are having a laugh’ and just wrote ‘DRAGON’ instead!
100% of people remember the colours of the Union Jack
It’s no surprise to see that 100% of study participants correctly recalled the red white and blue tones of the Union Jack, given in the UK we see this flag very frequently on buildings, during sporting celebrations and even during last year’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and this year’s coronation fo King Charles III. However, the exact layout of the colours proved slightly less memorable, with 8.7% unable to draw the flag with exact accuracy.
The Scottish Flag is simple but very memorable
The Scottish flag, also known as the St Andrews Cross is the most simple of the three flags, featuring a white saltire across a blue field.
Over 91% of participants were able to correctly recall the correct colours of the flag, and 91% of these people correctly recreated the pattern of the flag – which is higher than that of the more complex Welsh design. However, 8.7% of people taking partaking in the study were not able to recall the colours nor the pattern of the flag, which is likely due to the lesser amount of exposure we have to the flag.
Overall, the study revealed that in general, flags with complex designs, intricate patterns and uncommon colours can be considered the most challenging to draw. For example, everyone appeared to remember the flags that included the colours; red, blue, white, or green. However, flags with other less common colours such as; orange, mustard or dark green proved the most commonly forgotten.
Read the full report HERE
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You could say that number 17 is referencing a variant of Welsh flag with Cymru written on a red band above the dragon. Like the flag linked below.
At least the Ddraig Goch is not tainted by empire like the Union flag is. Our flag symbolises a proud ancient people, whose banner has flown for over 1600 years on this island.
This is down to multiple reasons. 1. Education systems in the English speaking word are heavily pro Anglo, 2. The BBC promoting Englishness as Britishness for almost 100 years, 3. The flag of the union of two non British founded countries being called British. While the flag that represents the Britons, the people of Wales being called “Welsh”. 4, the people of Wales’ misplaced belief they are saving their culture by calling themselves Welsh, not British. When in reality they are the same thing. Wales was founded by Britons! We are Britons! By calling yourself Welsh and not understanding that… Read more »
The best way to save “Welsh” and promote independence is by reclaiming the People of Wales’ right to British hood. Explaining vehemently who the Britons really are. And laying out the fact that no one can call the union flag of England and Scotland, British! As neither nation was founded by British (now called Welsh) people. I don’t understand how this is never called out…It is literally a real world form of cultural appropriation. Now don’t misunderstand, the English and Scots are geographically British and that can never change because their nations are located on the island, but they are… Read more »
Only 23 people were surveyed and there’s no indication of the backgrounds of those 23. Bit of fun really.
The measurement of how “memorable” a flag is determined by how accurately someone can draw the flags. So it’s not surprising that people find flags such as Cymru’s challenging.
However if those 23 were shown a bunch of tricolor and cross flags then it’s likely a flag with a red dragon would be most memorable in the sense of being noticed. Potentially a better brand than any tricolor or cross based flag.