Today, Google is celebrating St. David’s Day with a fun little Google Doodle featuring a red dragon holding a daffodil. Both of these images are recognized as national emblems in Wales.

St. David’s day is celebrated in Wales as the feast day of the saint, who is the patron saint of Wales. The holiday falls on March 1st of every year, as that is the agreed upon date of his death. St. David’s day has been a national day of celebration since the 18th century but was only declared a public holiday in the year 2000.

St. David was a bishop born somewhere between 462 and 512 and became widely regarded as a very important teacher an spiritual leader. One of his major accomplishments was the founding of a monastic community in a sport that now bears his name and his cathedral. The beautiful church stands in the county of Pembrokeshire, as the westernmost point of Wales:

Every year, the Welsh people hold parades to celebrate the day:

As you can see, the celebration is heavy on the daffodils, a national emblem of Wales. The other major national emblem represented in the Google Doodle is a red dragon – which adorns the Welsh flag. The current flag of Wales was officially adopted in 1959, but the red dragon has been associated with the country for centuries, the exact reason being a matter of lost history and myth.