Talk:Wales

The issue of whether Wales is a country or not has been repeatedly raised. The result of all these debates is that Wales is indeed a country. This has been confirmed in formal mediation. The discussion is summarised in this archive here. Further information on the countries within the UK can be found at Countries of the United Kingdom, and a table of reliable sources can be found at Talk:Countries of the United Kingdom/refs.

Semi-protected edit request on 16 April 2015

Average rain fall.........53 inches

Average summer temperature..........48-63

Average winter temperature...........35-45

Capital city.................Cardiff

UK Prime Minister - Infobox

Has anyone thought about adding the British Prime Minister to the Infobox below Parliament of the UK? I just find it strange that it’s not there already! The office is the head of the central government of a sovereign state that Wales is part of, so why not add it? What’s everyone views on this? Ciaran.london (talk) 23:06, 8 December 2020 (UTC)

UK PM should not be added. Note - We don't have the US President in any of the US state infoboxes or Canadian PM in any of the Canadian provinces/territories infoboxes. GoodDay (talk) 00:11, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Welsh Royal Badge

Hello, Tony Holkham, I have noticed that you reverted one of my edits on the addition of the Royal Badge of Wales to the Wales article. May I know what seems to be the issue with the inclusion of the said badge? Regarding about the use of the badge in the Welsh government, here's an article by the BBC that talks about the royal badge of Wales being used for all succeeding Welsh laws by the government. [1] Here is also an example of a legislation with the use of the said badge. [2]. The template of the Politics of Wales (which Welsh articles about law have) also uses the badge. PyroFloe (talk) 12:08, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

PyroFloe I don't see an issue with the badge itself, or the use of it. I simply thought it wasn't relevant to the main article on Wales the country. Others may disagree, which is why I transferred your comments from my talk page to the proper place here, where it will attract the attention of other editors interested in Wales. Thanks for your comments and links. Tony Holkham (Talk) 15:10, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

My view is that it's not necessary for the country article. It's a "niche" symbol which, I suspect, would go completely unrecognised by 99% of Welsh people. Similar logos were also not in the infoboxes of the articles on the other UK countries, until recently added by Pyrofloe. KJP1 (talk) 11:27, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

@KJP1 I do understand that it is a pretty unfamiliar symbol of Wales, however it is still officially a symbol of the said constituent country, besides that, I think that it should be included like how the coat of arms are included in sovereign countries, where it is a niche symbol that is unfamiliar with their citizens although a national symbol in the meanwhile. PyroFloe (talk) 01:43, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

PyroFloe, you could put it in Wales#Government_and_politics or Wales#National_symbols_and_anthem, I suppose, with a reliable source, but I don't see the need to put it in at all, given that it features prominently in Politics_of_Wales. Tony Holkham (Talk) 10:46, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Tony Holkham, I suppose we could just insert it under the National symbols of Wales heading for now. Even though I think that it should be included, I'll just respect your decision until someone brings it up again and hopefully it will be inserted in the infobox in the near future just like how the Netherlands, Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten as a constituent country of a Kingdom of the Netherlands has it's coat of arms in it's infobox. PyroFloe (talk) 12:18, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

This has been discussed before if you check. There is no reliable source which says it is anything more than a Royal Badge. There is a very brief BBC article but nothing which says it will always be used on Welsh Laws and even if it is used there that is all that could be set. We also resolved a long time ago that we would talk about countries not constituent countries by the way. Its on the Welsh Politics page, without better sourcing that is all we should do. -----Snowded ^TALK 15:52, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 26 March 2021

The only official language of Wales is Welsh, de jure. In practice, English is a common language, but has no official status in Wales. 2600:1006:B050:CFCF:8516:C7E5:3A3C:1BDC (talk) 00:54, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

What do you think 'official' means? Roger 8 Roger (talk) 03:00, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

I am fairly certain one can present arguments in English before the Cardiff Crown Court.--Creoda (talk) 11:49, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

What? Are you joking?? Have you read over Languages of Wales] and all it's sources? Martinevans123 (talk) 12:20, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

Not wishing to be overly pedantic, but I know of no UK statute that assigns English as an official language in any part of the UK. I think it possible that the Welsh Government has assigned the formal status of Welsh as an official language in Wales, but I have not been able to locate such a statute. The reference used in Languages of Wales is to Official Languages Scheme, July 2013, a policy document about bilingualism in Welsh Government, but it cites no underpinning statutory powers. It is just possible that nowhere in the UK is there a statutorily defined "Official" language. With regard to the original question asked , I suspect that Martinevans123 was simply reacting with incredulity - of course both English and Welsh can be used in any court in Wales.  Velella  ^{Velella Talk}   18:57, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

Your suspicions are wholly justified. As far as I know, court proceedings, in both England and Wales, are conducted in English. That's the norm. Section 22(1) of the Welsh Language Act 1993 provides that: "In any legal proceedings in Wales the Welsh language may be spoken by any party, witness or other person who desires to use it, subject in the case of proceedings in a court other than a Magistrates’ Court to such prior notice as may be required by rules of court; and any necessary provision for interpretation shall be made accordingly." Whether this has been superseded or amended by more recent legislation, I don't know. What I do know is that any "official communication" by means of printed material is written in English, typically with a Welsh translation second, lower down or on the reverse side. Martinevans123 (talk)

I’m assuming you’re referencing your many court summonses here, Martin! KJP1 (talk) 19:54, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

D'oh! Can't you keep your mouth shut KJP?! I thought those bargain windows were enough for you! Martinevans123 (talk) 20:02, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

It’s brave of you, Martin, to publicly acknowledge your earlier transgressions, and to seek to repay your debt to society by ceaselessly contributing to Wikipedia. It’s like your own, personal, Toynbee Hall. I’m in awe. KJP1 (talk) 20:20, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

Ta, KJ. Yeah, me and Polly are bezzies. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:34, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

Links added

I added links in Post-Roman era section: to Mercia, Anglesey, Northumbria, and Ceredigion articles, where those names were first mentioned in text of Wales article, and also link to homage (feudal) page when first used in Norman conquest section. For adults of UK these names and are known; for children and people from elsewhere they should/could be usefull, and I hope nobody objects. --Marjan Tomki SI (talk) 07:07, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

• I also added a link to fascism; similarly, a link to description of meaning of staple industries would be welcome, but one that offers good description is actually about a historical merchant company Merchants of the Staple and does not quite fit here. Maybe someone else can find something better (or that page can be changed so definition is in a section and here that section is linked).

It is an excellent article and I came here to see how it is done, to make some others better in similar way. But I am not sure this is correct:

Various public and private sector bodies have adopted bilingualism to a varying degree and (since 2011) Welsh is the only official language in any part of the United Kingdom.[254]

English I learned up to now taught me the part of the statement I bolded would mean also that no other oficial language exists in any part of United Kingdom.

I have some slight doubt that is true because here and there in UK English seem to be official too? I tried to look into reference (Davies), but failed to do it online (up to now), so this is WP:OR, but could please a native speaker see if this sentence could be rephrased so an outsider like me wouldn't be confused? --Marjan Tomki SI (talk) 10:50, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

-Marjan Tomki SI, it seems your last comment here is relevant to the thread immediately above. I wonder had you thought of splitting your comments to fit the two separate threads? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:12, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

part of England

Although the Berwick act was repealed, Wales's status as a country seems mainly to be defined by what the seanadd says about itself, not an act of the UK parliament (which is what counts). It would seem that the governmental arrangements for Wales are really an English local government structure, providing a super-council (a la GLC) for the Welsh counties.