The flag of Wales features a red dragon on two broad horizontal stripes of white and green. The dragon has been a Welsh symbol for nearly 2,000 years. Credit: © Viktor Ostrovsky, Shutterstock

Did you wake up this morning feeling the need to pin a leek in your lapel, wave a daffodil, or take your pet dragon for a walk? If so, you might be Welsh! Today is St. David’s Day, the day that the people of Wales celebrate their beloved country. David is the patron saint of Wales. A patron saint is a saint chosen to protect the interests of a country, place, group, trade or profession, or activity. St. David’s Day is celebrated every year on March 1.

The people of Wales will be celebrating St. David’s Day, from the capital city of Cardiff in the south to the idyllic northern village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. (Yes, that is the name of a real place!) The Welsh traditionally celebrate with parades and festivals called eisteddfods. (For those of you who skipped Welsh classes, it’s pronounced eye STEHTH vods.) As is the case in many countries, Wales is currently restricting social activities to reduce the spread of COVID-19. But the Welsh will certainly still celebrate! The Welsh flag will adorn homes, families will cook traditional Welsh recipes (including cawl – a souplike stew), and people will sing the national anthem (“Old Land of My Fathers”) with extra fervor.

Wales is one of the four countries that makes up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Welsh take great pride in their country. Although Wales has been united with England for more than 450 years, the Welsh have kept alive their own literature, traditions, and language—one of the oldest in Europe. The Welsh name for Wales is Cymru (pronounced KUHM ree.)

Wales is not alone in celebrating a national patron saint. For example, the English observe St. George’s Day on April 23, and the Scottish commemorate St. Andrew’s Day on November 30. Most famously, Irish people in many parts of the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17.

You may associate St. Patrick’s Day with the color green—in Chicago they even dye the river bright green every year. For St. David’s Day, the color is red, from the bright red dragon that stands proudly on the Welsh flag. Other Welsh symbols include daffodils—considered the national flower—and the vegetable leek (considered the national emblem).

No matter where you live, we wish you a Happy St. David’s Day! Or as it’s said in Welsh, “Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!” (pronounced DEETH gwihl DEW ee HAHP uhs).

July 31, 2018

On Sunday, July 29, Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas raced to his first Tour de France victory. The 32-year-old Thomas, who won cycling gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, crossed the finish line nearly two minutes ahead of second-place rider Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands. Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome, a member of Thomas’s Team Sky, finished in third place, 33 seconds behind Dumoulin. The race, nicknamed la Grande Boucle (the Big Loop), is one of the most popular sporting events in the world.

Geraint Thomas wears the leader’s yellow jersey ahead of other riders during stage 14 of the Tour de France on July 21, 2018. Credit: © Radu Razvan, Shutterstock

In the race’s largely ceremonial 21st and final stage on Sunday, Thomas entered Paris wearing the leader’s distinctive yellow jersey as he coasted in a comfortable peloton (pack of riders) amid thousands of cheering fans and multiple layers of police and other security. After crossing the finish line on the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a jubilant Thomas grasped the Welsh flag and saluted the many people from Wales who had come to see him finish. He is the first Welsh cyclist to win the Tour de France.

Tour de France racers pedal through the tough mountain stages in the Alps of southeastern France. Credit: © Bogdan Cristel, Reuters

In 2018—the 105^th Tour de France—the race began July 7 on Noirmoutier, an island connected by causeway to the Pays de la Loire region of western France. The route wound through the Loire Valley, up through Brittany, and across Normandy before shooting north to the border town of Roubaix near Lille. A rest-day air transfer carried the riders to Annecy in the shadow of Mont Blanc in southeastern France, where the race resumed on July 17. Thrilling mountain rides whisked the riders through the Alps and down into the Rhône Valley, where the riders crossed the foothills of the Pyrenees along France’s border with Spain. After a rest day in the picturesque city of Carcassonne on July 23, the race resumed with tough mountain stages to Pau and Lourdes before a blistering individual time trial—and for all intents and purposes, the end of the race—in the Basque Country on July 28. A second air transfer then took the riders to the Parisian suburb of Houilles, where the riders ceremoniously pedaled their way to the big finish.

Thomas ran steadily early in the race, creeping into second place behind leader Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium in the tour’s sixth stage in Brittany. Thomas clung to second place before finally overtaking Van Avermaet in the Alpine stage 11 to grab the lead. Thomas won stage 12 too, and kept the yellow jersey on his back for the rest of the race. He finished with an overall time of 80 hours, 30 minutes, and 37 seconds. The 2018 Tour de France began with 176 riders from 30 countries, and 145 cyclists completed the grueling race. The tour’s 21 stages were won by 13 different racers. Van Avermaet, who donned the yellow jersey from stages 3 through 10, faded to a 28th-place finish.

The Tour de France leader wears the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) for each stage he maintains the overall advantage. This year, France’s Pierre Latour won the maillot blanc (white jersey) as the race’s best young rider. Julian Alaphilippe of France earned the maillot à pois (polka dot jersey) as the race’s best climber in the tough mountain stages. The maillot vert (green jersey) went to Slovakia’s Peter Sagan as the overall leader in points (awarded for consistently high stage finishes). The Tour de France is one of three major touring races of cycling; the others are the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España.

March 22, 2017

On Saturday, March 18, the Irish men’s national Rugby Union team defeated the English team 13-9 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. The win was satisfying for Ireland and the majority of the 51,700 fans in attendance, but it was England that still came out on top, winning its second-straight Six Nations Championship title. The Six Nations is an annual tournament that also includes the national rugby teams of France, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. The popular rough-and-tumble tournament is one of the biggest outside the Rugby World Cup (last won by New Zealand—in England—in 2015). The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has sponsored the tournament—officially called the RBS 6 Nations—since 2003.

On March 18, 2017, England’s Anthony Watson (in white) and Jared Payne of Ireland compete for a high ball during Ireland’s 13-9 victory at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Credit: © Shaun Botterill, Getty Images

Ireland controlled the first half of Saturday’s match. The Irish players kept the ball in their hands 74 percent of the time, clamped down on England’s bruising offense, and scored the day’s only try (akin to a touchdown in American football) en route to a 10-3 halftime lead. Ireland held on during a grinding second half to secure the 13-9 win and second place in the tournament. Irish forward Peter O’Mahony—a last-minute starter because of an injury—won the man of the match award as the game’s outstanding player.

It was England, however, that dominated this year’s Six Nations, barely missing the so-called Grand Slam (an undefeated tournament). If Ireland had not happily stepped in the way, England would have won its second-straight Grand Slam, a difficult feat last accomplished by France in 1997 and 1998. Back then, it was only the Five Nations tournament (Italy joined the fray in 2000), so England’s back-to-back Grand Slam titles would have been the first in the modern Six Nations era. Alas, it was not to be. Saturday’s defeat also prevented England from setting a new record with its 19^th consecutive Test match victory. Test matches represent the highest level of international rugby competition. England instead remained tied with New Zealand’s powerful All Blacks for the all-time record of 18 straight Test wins.

The Six Nations tournament began as a competition among the British “Home Nations” of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in 1883. The 1910 addition of France made it a Five Nations Championship. France bowed out of the tournament in 1932, and the tournament halted altogether during World War II (1939-1945). But the competition returned—with France included—in 1947. Since the modern Six Nations format began in 2000, England has now won the tournament six times. France is second with five championships. Wales has four Six Nations titles, and Ireland has three. Scotland and Italy have yet to win the Six Nations.

Within the Six Nations tournament, other team awards—aside from the championship and Grand Slam—include the Triple Crown, which goes to any Home Nation team that defeats the other three in a given year. The worst team in the tournament “wins” the Wooden Spoon each year. Individual nations also swap annual trophies. The Calcutta Cup goes to the winner of the England-Scotland match. Scotland and Ireland play for the Centenary Quaich (a quaich «kwaykh» is a ceremonial drinking cup), while Ireland competes with England for the Millennium Cup. France and Italy play each year for the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy.