Following St David’s Day 1 March 2025, WCIA are delighted to have worked with ITV Wales producer Megan Booth on her short feature exploring the history of the Daffodil.
A little known but fascinating ‘fun fact’ for St David’s Day, is the story of the Daffodil as not only a national symbol for Wales, but one that for nearly 2 decades was also one of the most widespread peace symbols in the aftermath of World War One.
“the national flower of Wales had become the international flower of peace. The purchase and wearing of a daffodil in this way expresses both pride in the nation’s past, and hope for its future.”
Western Mail, 3rd August 1925
It was a symbolism that extended far beyond St David’s Day itself: to the generation who had survived the horrors and losses of the Great War, the annual blooming from dormant bulbs of bright yellow flowers across the valleys and hillsides of Wales each Spring, represented the hope of world peace and understanding for future generations. WLNU activists recognised these could only blossom if those bulbs, ‘seeds of hope’, were planted and nurtured – through widespread community involvement and outreach work.
Adopted by the Welsh League of Nations Union, WCIA’s predecessor body set up in the aftermath of World War One to galvanise public support for peace building, over 1,000 communities across Wales became active in the WLNU’s global activism, with 600 organising annual fundraising ‘Daffodil Days’ that resourced the campaigning activities of the Union.
The WLNU office in 6 Cathedral Road and later 8 Museum Place, Cardiff, would receive bulk orders for daffodil bulbs and cardboard lapel badges that would be despatched by train throughout the Welsh networks of the Great Western Railway and London Midland & Scottish Railways.
Communities Wales-wide who organised ‘Daffodil Days for Peace’ in 1927, from the Annual Report of the Welsh League of Nations Union
As Research Placement Rob Laker explained in his 2019 feature (below): “Transported by train across Wales, thousands of boxes of flowers – of both the cardboard and real variety – would arrive in each village in time to be distributed among the local volunteers involved with the Daffodil Day. Equipped with a wicker basket, a wooden tray, or sometimes even a cardboard box donated by a local confectionary shop, helpers would set out from nearby coordination centres, ready to spend their Saturday selling neatly packed daffodils.
School children in particular – despite being officially ‘barred’ from participating! – were a key component of Daffodil Days. Most organisers relished the chance to bolster their numbers with such a surplus of enthusiastic volunteers. Their cause was made clear by the labels across the front of each of their box – ‘for world peace’ – and their dedication plain for all to see by their presence on even the rainiest of weekends during the Welsh summer.
The choice of using a Welsh national symbol to promote an internationalist body was no accident. It conveyed a very deliberate and potent message: a declaration of Wales’ identity as a modern nation, committed, at its very core, to the pursuit of peace and international cooperation. It was a statement of Welsh public pride in their role at the forefront of internationalism.“
Gwirfoddolwyr Diwrnod y Daffodil Caerdydd – ‘Young Workers for Peace’, Western Mail, 22 Mai 1933.
Within the Temple of Peace, one of the quotes on the walls to the Crypt of Remembrance recalls the words of German sculptor Kathe Kollwitz, which sum up powerfully the ‘raison d’etre’ of the Welsh League of Nations Union throughout the interwar era, and of the generations of Welsh peace activism over the 100 years since:
“Every war already carries within it the war which will answer it. Every war is answered by a new war, until everything, everything is smashed. Pacifism simply is not a matter of calm looking on; it is work, hard work.”
By Dylan Bilyard, Cardiff University School of Journalism
WELSH-ARMENIANS have unveiled a plaque for the Welsh people who have fought to recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915.
Wales’ Armenian Community gathered around the new Peace Garden plaque, Feb 2025
“They believed that the events of 1915 did constitute a genocide and the truth was something worth fighting for,” said Armenian businessman John Torosyan, who lives in Llandaff, Cardiff.
The Armenian genocide was an ethnic cleaning that took place between 1915 and 1922 at the hands of the Ottoman Empire – which became modern-day Turkey.
An estimated one and a half million Armenians – or 60% of all Armenians at the time – were murdered. Turkey still denies the genocide, and many nations, including the UK, have also refused to recognise the event as genocide.
Due to the efforts of the individuals named on the plaque – which is in Wales’ National Garden of Peace – Wales is the only country in the UK where both the church and state have recognised the effort to destroy the Armenian people and culture as a genocide.
The plaque was unveiled as a part of the 110th anniversary of the atrocities and recognises the contributions of five Welsh people.
Among them is the Reverend Dr Canon Patrick Thomas, whose efforts led to the Church in Wales officially recognising the genocide, and the late Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas – who died on February 7 this year – who was Speaker of the Assembly and campaigned for the state recognition of the genocide.
“The truth has got to be put right or you’re living in a make-believe world,” said Mr Torosyan. “History is who we are, why we are the way we are, and why we are here today. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Jessica Morden MP for Newport East, who attended the unveiling, said: “It is absolutely right that we remember what happened and call it what it was. There is a strong affinity between Wales and Armenia. Both are small countries in mountainous regions with big neighbours. I have visited Armenia and loved it.”
The plaque is next to Cardiff’s memorial to the genocide, which was erected controversially in 2007 as the first to do so in the UK, and desecrated just a year later.
The memorial is made of both Welsh slate and sandstone made to resemble Armenian khachkar – a type of rock. It was designed similarly to the Celtic cross, and symbolises “Y Gwir yn erbyn y Byd” – truth against the world. The plaque is written in Welsh, English and Armenian.
“In Turkey, we dare not speak our language, just like the Welsh didn’t,” Mr Torosyan added. Mr Torosyan and his wife Ani have not returned to their home country of Turkey since 1966, when they were harassed by armed soldiers. They have been in Wales since, fostering a community of 60 people and 12 children.
“We consider our community fully integrated but holding a semblance of identity.”
John Torosyan
They run a community centre and Armenian language school for the children. They have also fought to have the genocide recognised by the UK government, but “don’t think it ever will”.
Despite the efforts of many individuals within Welsh government, including ex-First Minister Carwyn Jones who paid homage to the Armenians on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Lord Elis-Thomas whose National Assembly granted the land for the memorial and allowed the word genocide to be used, it is unable to fully recognise the genocide because “foreign policy is a matter for the UK government”.
The UK government has said that it is unable to classify the tragedy as a genocide because it predates the UN Convention on Genocide. However, it classes the holocaust, which also predates the convention, as a genocide. Many other countries, including the US and Germany, do recognise the Armenian genocide. The term genocide was even created to refer to the ethnic cleansing of Armenians.
Mr Torosyan said these efforts are especially important now, with relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan worsening. Azerbaijan has this month submitted a lawsuit against Armenia for their use of land once belonging to Azerbaijan, where violence against Armenians continues today.
Though praising the Welsh government’s “incremental steps,” he calls on it to condemn the ongoing violence and urge the UK government to do more in support of Armenians.
Lord Mayor Helen Lloyd Jones and ambassador His Excellency Varuzhan Nersesyan also attended.
The event ended with a lecture by maestro Sipan Olah on how the genocide changed Armenian music and a performance of Armenian music by the Klingen Choir.
2025 marks the 10th year since the introduction of the Wellbeing for Future Generations (Wales) Act. This revolutionary piece of legislation requires public bodies across Wales to implement sustainability within their actions and consider the impact of their decisions on both the current, and future, generations of Wales.
To mark the 10th year anniversary, and to coincide with the release of the Future Generations Report 2025, Ethan Norman, a Law & Politics student at Cardiff University on placement with us, created a policy report on the Act for WCIA to:
Help explain what it is;
Explain the work of the Act;
Demonstrate where it can be improved; and
Show where it has already succeeded.
The policy report also includes recommendations that are used as a way to demonstrate how the Act can be improved.
Overall, Ethan found the Act to be successful in promoting sustainability in public bodies, although there are areas that must be improved to ensure its continued success. The most pressing issue of the Act is its lack of accountability and enforceability on Welsh public bodies. To improve, there must be changes to the policy instruments of the Act to be more effective.
