The feathers are the badge of the heir apparent to the British throne regardless of whether or not the Prince of Wales title is held.

[10] It is therefore likely that the Black Prince inherited the badge from his mother,[11] descended from the Counts of Hainault, whose eldest son bore the title "Count of Ostrevent", the ostrich (French: autruche, Old French spellings including ostruce) feathers being possibly an heraldic pun on that name.

[12] The accompanying motto, "Ich dien" (meaning "I serve"), may also be attributed to Philippa and the language of her Low Countries homeland.

[14] Sir Roger de Clarendon, an illegitimate son of the Black Prince by his mistress Edith Willesford, bore arms of Or, on a bend sable three ostrich feathers argent.

[9] According to a longstanding legend, the Black Prince obtained the badge from the blind King John of Bohemia, against whom he fought at the Battle of Crécy in 1346.

Therefore, the claim on the Black Prince's tomb that he had adopted the badge to honour the dead king's courage might well be true after all.

Since a key factor in the English army's victory at Crécy was the use of Longbow archers (a third of whom were Welsh) it is also sometimes said to have been Edward's pride in the men of Wales which led him to adopt a symbol alluding to their assistance.

The Freemen of Llantrisant claim that it was their ancestors who killed King John of Bohemia and captured his ostrich-feather emblem.

In the 19th century the motto was, at one point reappropriate to signify "Eich Dyn" and this was repeated in multiple articles at this time.

It has formed the dexter badge[32][33] of the heraldic achievement of the Prince of Wales since at least 1901, blazoned A plume of three ostrich feathers argent enfiled by a coronet composed of fleurs-de-lys and crosses patée or alternately with motto Ich Dien.

As the logo of the WRU, the Prince of Wales' feathers are also represented in one of the quarters of the British and Irish Lions' badge.

In 2021, the pro-independence group YesCymru created a number of mock-up logos using the alternative Welsh symbols of a leek, daffodil and a harp.

[40] The WRL chairman Brian Juliff stated that "This is another step forward into establishing our own brand identity across Wales.

The dragon and the feathers have been a regular debate topic throughout my ten years as chair at Wales Rugby League and, after taking all opinions and considerations, we have finally decided to go with the majority view and instincts.

[44] The badge was also used on the coat of arms of Penang until 1985, a state of Malaysia that the British settled in 1786 as Prince of Wales Island.

Malta was a colony of the British Crown for 200 years, and there exist a variety of clubs and organisations bearing the name of royal personalities.