Wales is one of the only countries in the world with a dragon on its flag. The Welsh flag shows a huge red dragon standing on green grass against a white background. The dragon has been a symbol of Wales for over a thousand years, but it only became the official national flag in 1959.
The dragon comes from a very old Welsh legend. The story says a king kept trying to build a castle, but every morning the walls would fall down again. A young boy named Merlin - yes, the same Merlin from the King Arthur stories - told the king that two dragons were sleeping underground beneath the castle.
When workers dug down, they found a red dragon and a white dragon. The two dragons woke up and started fighting. According to the legend, the red dragon won, and Merlin said it was a sign that the Welsh people would one day defeat their enemies. The red dragon has been their symbol ever since.
