We are the newest and fastest growing movement in the Welsh nationalist scene
Who are we?
The Situation
Many of the Welsh nationalist movement’s recent gains can largely be attributed to the utter incompetence and ham-fisted, muscular unionism of the Tory Party. The movement itself has become stagnant and lacks energy, even allowing itself to fall into internal squabbles motivated by the Anglo-American ‘culture war’. Furthermore, the failure of the Labour Party under Corbyn’s leadership has seen the movement become inundated with authoritarian Marxist entryists who regard Welsh independence as merely a vehicle for furthering their own political agendas.
The New Generation
Eryr Wen is a breath of fresh air to the nationalist movement, it is a brand new and energetic approach to defending our nation and campaigning for our eventual independence. We are a movement and community created by the youth, for the youth. After decades of little growth, the Welsh nationalist movement has lost all of the vigour, dedication and willingness to stir up a flame of passion within the hearts of the Cymry; it has grown tired and lethargic. Eryr Wen aims to rekindle that flame within our hearts, for if we do not, then no one else will.
The Path Forward
It all begins with us, the youth of Cymru. We must begin building the communities and networks for the next generation of Welsh nationalists to arise from. We must pursue a campaign of provocative and eye-catching activism that brings talk of independence, the language and the wellbeing of the Cymry into general conversation. Our world is quickly growing increasingly unpredictable, with new challenges and instability arising on a near daily basis. Therefore, it is prudent that we organise now so that we may seize an opportunity when it arises.
Yr Eryr Wen
An Ancient Legacy
Both the name and symbol of our movement is derived from the legend of Yr Eryr Wen, otherwise known as the White Eagle in English. Written to have stood as progenitors of great wisdom in the Mabinogion, the white eagles were believed to watch over Cymru and warn of hostile incursions from atop the peaks of Eryri. From this legend derives the very name of Cymru’s greatest mountains, with ‘Eryri’ meaning the ‘Seat of the Eagles’ in Cymraeg.
A heroic king of Gwynedd and one of Cymru’s greatest military leaders in the struggle for independence, Owain ap Gruffydd, would adopt three such eagles as his royal coat of arms. Bards and poets prophesised that the eventual liberator of Cymru, referred to as the ‘Son of Prophecy’, would bear the Eryr Wen.
Owain ap Gruffydd, King of Gwynedd
Today
Come the 1960s, Harri Webb, a Welsh poet and staunch nationalist, set about reviving the legends of old. Drawing inspiration from the Mabinogion and ancient bardic prophecies of an eventual restoration of Welsh nationhood, he designed a stylised Eryr Wen for a modern movement. The symbol would later come to be adopted by the Free Wales Army (FWA) and has been a powerful symbol of Welsh republican nationalism ever since.
Our movement now proudly inherits this ancient legacy and defiantly flies Yr Eryr Wen for the new generation of Welsh nationalists. After almost a millennium of English rule in Cymru, our language and nation stand on the brink. We are the vanguard of the new nationalist movement that will ensure the survival of Cymru.