Welsh-flag spotting outside Wales

I don't know about you but whenever I'm outside Wales I seem to have an in-built and somewhat distracting tendency to go Welsh flag spotting. (Come to think of it, it happens when I'm in Wales too... I really ought to have better things to do with my time.) It always seems to surprise me that other countries fly the Welsh flag. It shouldn't, of course, because Wales has many present and historic connections with countries as far apart as Australia, Argentina, India, the US, Canada, etc.

But it was still a delight to find so many Welsh flags adorning the beautiful city of Dublin during a recent day visit. I must have easily spotted about 7 or 8 within a few hours. In a strange way it makes you feel welcome.

Interestingly - and this may be a figment of my imagination - I didn't spot any St. George flags and very few St. Andrew flags. Something else I noticed - there seemed to be a disproportionate amount of buildings displaying the Irish, Italian and Welsh flags all together, such as the one below. Anyone know why this is?


PS. If you're a Welsh flag spotter yourself, you may be interested in my new blog: http://walesbeyondwales.blogspot.com/

English-only speakers who support Welsh

English-only or part-Welsh speakers in Wales who support the Welsh language - and there are many of them - and who also support the idea of strengthening the Welsh economy should take a look at this fantastic and bold idea on www.DimeGoch.com. If enough people in Wales got behind this idea then companies like Thomas Cook would need to seriously and quickly wake-up to the fact that Welsh is very important to the people of Wales, even to English-only and part-Welsh speakers.

We hear a lot these days about buying 'ethically', buying 'locally', buying 'green', etc. And quite right too. But here's another one: buy from companies who support the Welsh language and ditch those who refuse to use it!