Welsh activist claims wanting to be British is ‘subconsciously wanting to be English’
Amelia Jones
A Welsh activist and music artist says Welsh people saying they want to be British ‘subconsciously want to be English.’
Dale Hughes, otherwise known as King Chrxn (pronounced Chron), takes his name from “Chronicles,” and is a 31-year-old activist and rapper.
He is from Bridgend and although he wasn’t raised speaking Welsh, he says he deeply understands the impact of the people of Wales being robbed of their culture and language, and is proudly learning Welsh to reclaim the language he feels denied.
His work centers heavily on promoting the Welsh language and advocating for Wales’ right to self-determination
In a social media video he posted this week, he responded to a video by TikTok account @officialkirigirl.
In the video, she says: “We need to start a petition to put a red dragon onto the Union Jack. He doesn’t even have to be big, he can be small if he really has to be. I just want him on there.
“I really want him on there. Guys please, a red dragon on the Union Jack 2026.”
The video was met by several Welsh people criticising the video. One commenter said: “Please leave Wales out of it.”
Another commenter added:”Absolutely not. We are not tarnishing the reputation of the red dragon.”
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Chrxn’s video added to the argument against putting the dragon on the flag. He said: “I have this constant argument with people that there’s a Saesneg superiority complex.
“Not everyone has it, but you do come across it. When you’re younger and a new kid comes to school, they’re from England, they automatically are like, oh, I’m from England, and everyone swarms them, do you know what I mean?
“And this is that thing coming into play. This shows how much we are willing to scrub our own identity to have an inclusive British one.
“If you take into consideration what is the Hollywood depiction of Britain, you think of a ‘pip pip cheerio.’ So in reality, by us wanting to be British, subconsciously we want to be English.
“I can’t remember who said it, but they said we abandoned the Welsh struggle for English benefits, and it is so true.”
You can watch the full video here.
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As the great Gwynfor Evan’s said “British is a synonym for English”
To most English people it’s a totally interchangeable term.
Completely agree and you’ll notice people working in media will often say England/English but then quickly change to British.
I’ve lost count. They come on the radio and say ‘England/English’ and immediately realise that they are talking about a matter that involves the whole of the UK then chuck in ‘Uh…Britain/British/UK. We are well down the path of full autonomy with this language in full flow. The trouble is, some of them believe that ‘England’ runs from Dover to Shetland and Great Yarmouth to Aberystwyth AND even Galway.
Mmicry has been a bane in Wales for centuries. ‘Mimicry: Mimicry occurs when members of a colonized society imitate the language, dress, politics, or cultural attitude of their colonizers. Mimicry is seen as an opportunistic pattern of behaviour where one copies the person in power, because one hopes to have access to that same power oneself. Whilst copying the master, one has to intentionally suppress one’s own cultural identity. Often this entails being so confused by the cultural encounter with the dominant foreign culture that very quickly there may not even be a clear, conscious, pre-existing identity to suppress.’
Their clearly demonstrated stock in trade hence the constant repression of of our language/place names etc just in case we get some idea about ourselves, an idea they have, and always will, FAIL to crush.
NO WAY EVER! Y Ddraig Goch ar Y Baner Undeb Prydain will forever imprison us under its’ rule. The very last thing we need or want. Annibyniaeth nawr/rwan!
It’s useful to distinguish “cultural nations” from “civic nations”. Sometimes they coincide and sometimes they don’t. In Iceland, the two are almost identical, while in Switzerland four cultural nations happily co-operate as one civic nation without belittling each other. The United Kingdom fails miserably as a civic nation (and is in denial of the staggering levels of corruption that are causing it to fail), so it’s reasonable to advocate secession as route to functional public services and cultural tolerance. My own experience of working for the UK government has left me at a loss to see how the UK can… Read more »
A Rather ‘nothing’ anecdote. Random person says let’s put a dragon on the flag, random other person says no. World shrugs. Life goes on.
I have lived many different places when younger and those English always called themselves British. I feel English and British is more interchangeable now, but when youg very little mention by those English of England outside sport. Let them have it, I have and wil never refer to myself as British. I have to much respect for my country, Cymru.
The name “Britain” it evolved from an ancient Brythonic Celtic word, Pritu. I say I am British before I am Welsh because our roots are in the island itself. Stop being such a bunch of whining victims. Get over it