Original version

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Radio

World Service Radio

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History: 'The bad boy of Welsh politics'

Documentaries

'The bad boy of Welsh politics'

22/12/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, 'The bad boy of Welsh politics'

In 1969, the singer Dafydd Iwan campaigned for official recognition of the Welsh language

In January 1969, the singer Dafydd Iwan defaced an English police station sign in Wales. It was a key moment in his campaign for the official recognition of the Welsh language.

In the 1960s, the singer Dafydd Iwan started campaigning for the Welsh language to gain official status in Wales. 

For years, Dafydd received little support. In January 1969 he decided to up the pressure, defacing a police station sign written in English with paint. 

He ended up in prison, but soon young people across the country were picking up paint pots and taking up the cause. 

Today, the Welsh language is found in schools, on documents and on police station signs. Dafydd tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty about his activism and singing.

(Photo: Dafydd after his release from Cardiff prison. Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

'The bad boy of Welsh politics'

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service

About BBC World Service