St Davids Cross

In the past, when a new terrace phenomenon came along, it would be submerged into the culture and its origins would be lost. Thankfully, we now have the internet to document the starting point of these things, and I was pleased to come across the birth of a recent initiative documented in some posts to the Cardiff City mailing list.

This is the history of the St Davids Cross being used as the background for Cardiff City's current badge. It was man called Mervyn Ham who made the first flag up. Emblazoned with the legend "Llancadle Blues", Muhz put together the original flag in about 1998. This is the first mention that I could find of the cross, dated January 25th 2000.

In a message dated 25/01/00 11:36:55 GMT Standard Time,
Did anyone ever see those those enamel badges that were knocked up for theEuro Summit in Cardiff? three flags,Welsh Dragon / St Davids Cross / Euro Union Flag. Really neat!Well along the same theme - hows this for a balaclava badge?St Davids Cross / Skull & Crossbones / Bluebird Or St Davids Cross / Skull & Crossbones / Football Rattle. With the words "theres a bluebird in my heart" underneath. Tee Hee.Muhz

Not many people know that there are two versions of the flag:

At 06:49 25/01/00 EST, Eric the Red wrote: I was researching Welsh heraldry today and came across mention of the St David's cross. Black, on a gold background !!

This is the first mention of the actual flag:

Tue Jan 25, 2000 7:10 pm
Hi Mark, yes I'll probably be going.I'm taking the Llancadle Flag, and possibly getting a couple of smaller St Davids flags to raise the profile a bit. Did Nigel Blues mention that his mum and dad were listening to the Cambridge Away game on Capital Gold when they heard Phil Suarez commenting on the Llancadle Flag. Whats a yellow and black cross doing among Cardiff City fans? he kept asking - what is this Flag? . Muhz

And if you need any more evidence, here's NigelBlues from Tue Oct 15, 2002
Nobody knew about the St Davids Cross until Muhz told us all about 2 or 3 years ago and introduced his Llancadle flag. I don't know whether this development makes Muhz a hero or means he should be driven out of Wales but how was he to know it would be hijacked and misused in this fashion?

So there we have it. Documented proof of the first use of the St Davids Cross as a football flag.
It is prominent now throughout Wales, and not just within football. And we all know who started it - Mervyn Ham.