 A mural unveiled to mark Wales Identity Day |
Miners, choirs, leeks and sheep are all stereotypical images of Wales but what do people in the four regions of the nation think represents their country? Social historian Catrin Stevens posed the question for the Heritage Lottery Fund's (HLF) Wales Identity Day 2006.
Results showed a "common bond" of shared passion for Wales but also revealed clear identities in the four regions based on their local heritage.
People living in north, mid, west and south Wales were surveyed.
The results revealed the very clear identities in the four regions based on their local heritage.
People from south-east Wales thought their landscape and local heroes stood them apart from the rest of Wales, choosing a miners lamp and rugby ball as symbols of their heritage that should be preserved for the future.
They believed the increase in diverse cultures had improved their area for the better over the last 10 years and chose south Wales-born Aneurin Bevan as "ambassador".
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The Transporter Bridge in Newport and the capital's Millennium Stadium were the most popular heritage icons.
Those in mid Wales also placed landscape as the most important element of their heritage but thought the Welsh language was the key to making their region unique.
They chose Welsh lamb and the Welsh language as heritage symbols and thought better housing and less unemployment were the two things that had improved most over the last decade.
Owain Glyndwr would be their ideal ambassador for the area and the National Library of Aberystwyth and metal mining were the most significant heritage icons.
People in west Wales highlighted landscape and mining as the two most important elements of their heritage, choosing a piece of coal and rugby ball as symbolic objects.
 Welsh regions chose different icons to represent areas |
They thought green areas were better maintained than 10-years-ago but would choose north Wales-born Bryn Terfel as their ambassador.
The most iconic landmarks in their area are the Aberdulais Falls and Margam Park.
While people in north Wales agreed with their west Walian counterparts in identifying landscape and mining as the most important elements of their heritage, and picked a miner's lamp and a beer barrel as objects that should be preserved for the future.
They would choose Aneurin Bevan and Bryn Terfel as ambassadors for the north and see the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Llangollen Bridge as their heritage icons.
Catrin Stevens who analysed the results, said: "If there's one thing that came across strongly, it was that people the length and breadth of Wales share a strong passion for their heritage, their roots and national identity and they want to share this passion with other people.
"Whilst we were interested in finding out what makes each region unique, we were also searching for those common bonds across the country."
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