Reference: SR23/4917/2
 |
Wales remains the internationally recognised name of the nation, rather than Cymru, despite the equal statusgiven to both languages by the Welsh Government.
The Wales (OfficialLanguages) Act 2012 gave both Welsh and English statusas the official languages of the then National Assembly. Through the Senedd andElections (Wales) Act 2020,the National Assembly was renamed Senedd Cymru. While both ‘Senedd Cymru’ and ‘WelshParliament’ have equal status in legislation, the term ‘Senedd’ is now the common name used in both Welsh and English contexts.
There have been several recentinstances of placesand organisations in Wales choosing to use their Welsh title exclusively, often citing this as a key part of their identity. Despite this, the Welsh Government currently has no plans to change the official title of the nation, signalling in its response to this petition its intention to carry on using both Cymru and Wales.
Examples of Welsh only namesbeing used
Some organisations and councils have adopted revised Welsh language policies for their names and branding. Cyngor Gwynedd, previously known by its English name Gwynedd Council, adopted a revised Welsh language policy in 2022. The new policystates that “the Council's corporateidentity reflects its commitment and the priority given to the Welsh language”.
In 2022, Snowdonia NationalPark Authority voted to use Yr Wyddfaand Eryri, rather than the English terms Snowdon and Snowdonia.
National football team
Cymru, rather than Wales,is used by the FootballAssociation of Wales (FAW) in itsinternal and externalcommunications and by staff to refer to both the men’s and women’s national football teams.
It has been reported that the FAW plan to change the name officially in the near future. Noel Mooney,the FAW’s chief executive, has said that a name change“is the direction of travel, but there’s no firm decisionson it”.
International examples
There have been many international examples of nationschanging their official title. In 2022, the Turkish Governmentsent a letter to the UNformally requesting that it be referredto as Türkiye, the Turkishspelling and pronunciation of Turkey. The Republicof Türkiye is now the country’s officialname, and the country is listed as Türkiye in the UN list of Member States.
In 2016, the Czech government officially changed the country’s name to Czechia. The long title remains in some contexts,with the short name being compared to thatof France (officially known as the French Republic).
The island nation previously known as Cape Verde changed its name to Cabo Verde in 2013. Cape Verde was an angelized version of the original Portuguese.
The Welsh Governmentresponded to this petition on 13 January2023.
The Minister for the Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, welcomed recent instances of organisations and authorities choosing to use Welsh names as their official title. The Ministersaid that examplessuch as Cyngor Gwynedd and Yr Wyddfa being used officially instead of English terms show “there is a strong desire in some contexts to place the Welsh language at the heart of public life, especially in areas where thereis a higher proportion of Welsh speakers.”
The Minister went on to say that it was the Welsh Government’s intentionto
continue to use both Cymru and Wales to refer to the nation.
A 2019 petition calling for the then Assembly to be known officially as ‘Senedd’ (rather than a bilingual title) received 1,033 signatures. The Petitions Committee considered the proposals, but rejected them on the grounds that the issue was being considered in the passageof the Senedd and Elections(Wales) Bill.
During the consultation on the Bill,53% of respondents considered that a monolingual name consisting of ‘Senedd’ would positively describe the role and responsibilities of the NationalAssembly for Wales,while 73% favoured ‘Welsh Parliament’.
The Bill initiallyproposed ‘Senedd’ as a monolingual official title. However,an amendment from the then First Minister, CarwynJones, was passedby 43 to 13 that gave the Seneddits bilingual name it has today.
 |
