The emblem of Wales is the leek, arising from an occasion when a troop of Welsh were able to distinguish each other from a troop of English enemy dressed in similar fashion by wearing leeks. An alternative emblem developed in recent years is the daffodil, used and preferred over the leek by the English government [my emphasis added] as it lacks the overtones of patriotic defiance associated with the leek.
St. David's Day meetings are not boisterous celebrations of democracy and freedom in Wales, but rather the subdued remembrance allowed a captive nation under colonial rule.
You can read more about St. David and Welsh history here. One of my friends in graduate students at the University of Illinois was Annie from Wales. I called her “the girl with the aubergine hair.” You couldn’t help but notice Annie, and I’m sure no one who ever knew her could forget her.
Annie was incensed when an undergraduate in one of the classes she taught objected to her philosophical views, calling her “too liberal.” (What was he thinking?) “I’m not liberal!” Annie informed him hotly. “I’m radical!”
I cannot imagine Annie exchanging leeks for daffodils.
