Owain Glyndŵr's Flag: Why Four Lions?
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If you have seen a red-and-gold flag divided into four squares, each carrying a rearing lion, you have probably found baner Owain Glyndŵr. It is commonly called Owain Glyndŵr's flag, but the most precise description is a banner of his arms.
The distinction matters. Medieval seals give strong evidence that Owain Glyndŵr used four lions in his princely heraldry. They do not, on their own, prove that a surviving cloth flag looked exactly like every version sold or flown today.
What exactly is Owain Glyndŵr's flag?
The familiar design is divided into four quarters, alternating gold or yellow with red. Each quarter contains a lion in the opposite colour. In heraldic language the animals are rampant, meaning that they are shown rearing with their forepaws raised.
This is different from a modern logo invented long after the revolt. The underlying arms appear on the surviving seal evidence connected with Owain Glyndŵr. A scholarly study published by the Heraldry Society records four counterchanged lions on his privy seal of 1404 and princely great seal of 1405. On these seals the lions are rampant rather than shown walking.
That makes the flag a visual translation of a shield. A banner of arms takes the pattern that covers a heraldic shield and extends it across a rectangular piece of cloth. It does not need a separate badge in the middle because the whole surface carries the arms.
Why does the flag have four lions?
The clearest primary object record comes from Museum Wales. On the horseback side of the Great Seal, Owain Glyndŵr carries a quartered shield with a lion in each section. His horse's cloth displays the same four-lion arrangement. Museum Wales describes these as the ancient arms of Gwynedd and says that they expressed his aspirations.
The seal was not just decoration. A great seal authenticated documents and presented authority to anyone who handled them. Its mounted prince, sword, shield, lions and dragon crest therefore formed a political statement. Around its edge are the words princeps wallie, meaning Prince of Wales.
What do the colours and poses mean?
Three visual terms make the design easier to read:
- Quarterly means that the field is divided into four parts.
- Counterchanged means that the colours swap across the quarters. A red lion sits on gold, while a gold lion sits on red.
- Rampant describes the upright, rearing pose of each lion.
The colours are usually described in heraldic language as Or and Gules, meaning gold and red. Printed flags often use yellow for the gold field because it remains clear and bright on fabric.
Be cautious with claims that red must mean blood, gold must mean wealth, or each quarter has one fixed modern message. Those interpretations may feel satisfying, but the seal records and heraldic study used for this article do not supply that key. The secure historical meaning lies in the complete arms and the princely claim they communicated.
Did Owain Glyndŵr really fly this exact design?
The honest answer has two parts. The four-lion arms are well evidenced. Museum Wales has impressions and replicas of the seals, while the National Library of Wales holds archival material about the Great and Privy Seals. The National Library also explains that modern facsimiles of the 1406 Pennal Letter used a seal recreated from moulds of the original.
What these sources do not establish is a surviving medieval rectangle of red-and-gold cloth in today's proportions. A ruler's arms could naturally be turned into a banner of arms, but describing every modern flag as the unchanged battlefield flag goes further than this evidence allows.
| Evidence level | What we can say | What remains uncertain |
|---|---|---|
| Documented | His seals display quartered arms with four lions rampant. | A monochrome seal does not preserve fabric or dye. |
| Reasonable description | The modern flag is a banner of those arms. | Different makers may draw the lions and proportions differently. |
| Not proved here | No surviving cloth is needed to establish the arms. | These sources do not prove that today's exact flag was carried at every battle. |
How is it different from the Golden Dragon and Red Dragon?
Three designs are easily mixed together because all are connected with Welsh identity:
| Design | What you see | Best description |
|---|---|---|
| Baner Owain Glyndŵr | Four rampant lions on red-and-gold quarters | A banner of his heraldic arms |
| Y Ddraig Aur | A golden dragon, commonly shown on a light field | A separate dragon standard associated with Glyndŵr |
| Y Ddraig Goch | A red dragon on white and green | The modern national flag of Wales |
The four-lion flag is therefore not an earlier draft of the modern Welsh flag. It belongs to a different heraldic story. For the longer development of the national design, read our guide to the Welsh flag and Red Dragon.
The four-lion banner remains visible at commemorations, cultural gatherings and political marches. Context changes what a modern bearer wants it to express. The medieval seal evidence explains where the arms came from, but it does not dictate one modern political meaning for everyone who flies them.
What is the flag called in Welsh?
The clearest everyday phrase is baner Owain Glyndŵr, meaning “Owain Glyndŵr's flag” or “Owain Glyndŵr's banner”. Welsh places the owner after the thing owned, so there is no separate word for “of” in this phrase.
| Welsh | English | Language note |
|---|---|---|
| baner Owain Glyndŵr | Owain Glyndŵr's flag or banner | baner can mean flag or banner. |
| Sêl Fawr Owain Glyndŵr | Owain Glyndŵr's Great Seal | The feminine noun sêl causes mawr to soft-mutate to fawr. |
| Tywysog Cymru | Prince of Wales | This is the Welsh meaning Museum Wales gives for princeps wallie on the seal. |
Can you identify the flag now?
Look for three clues: a field split into four quarters, alternating red and gold, and four lions in a rearing pose. If you see one dragon instead, ask whether it is the separate Golden Dragon or Y Ddraig Goch on Wales's national flag.
That quick check reveals the most useful part of the story. The modern banner is not merely a striking pattern. It carries an image of authority that Owain Glyndŵr placed on his seals more than six centuries ago, while honest wording keeps the proven arms separate from claims about a lost cloth flag.
For the wider story of the commemoration, the revolt and the Pennal Letter, continue with why 16 September is Owain Glyndŵr Day.
Sources, further reading and image credits
Sources and further reading
- Museum Wales: Owain Glyndŵr Great Seal object record
- Amgueddfa Cymru: cofnod Cymraeg Sêl Fawr Owain Glyndŵr
- Heraldry Society: Adrian Ailes on seals and state imagery
- National Library of Wales: the Pennal Letter and recreated seal
- National Library of Wales Archives: Seals of Owain Glyndŵr, NLW MS 12222D
- Cadw: Owain Glyndŵr Parade, 16 September 2026
Image credits
- Feature image: Owain Glyndŵr Day parade in Corwen, 16 September 2017. Photo by Llywelyn2000, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Source: Hogyncymru via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
