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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ben James

'Dragons RFC' rebrand leaked as pictures of new badge and team name emerge

The new Dragons badge has leaked on social media after pictures from Rodney Parade were posted on Twitter.

It is part of a major rebranding set to be announced on Monday as the Gwent side seek to move on from a tough season where they failed to win at home. As part of the rebrand, it appears that the name on the badge will be changed to Dragons RFC, while the Dragons' tail that has adorned their badge since 2003 has now been retired.

Instead, the badge will feature three amber fleurs-de-lis on a black background - a nod to Monmouthshire's crest, based on the arms attributed by medieval heralds to King Inyr of the Ancient British Kingdom of Gwent, and the colours of Newport RFC.

Despite the official announcement being on Monday, photos of the new badge at Rodney Parade emerged on social media over the weekend. This will be the Dragons' second rebrand, having dropped 'Newport Gwent' from their name in 2017.

This time, the name change serves to lengthen their title - with the RFC addition seemingly set to serve the purpose of moving away from the idea of regions and towards professional club sides, as was the case with Cardiff dropping the Blues moniker last year and replacing it with 'Rugby'.

The badge is just one of a series of changes at Rodney Parade ahead of next season. Former Scarlets attack coach Dai Flanagan has arrived as the new head coach to work under director of rugby Dean Ryan.

There is also renewed hope that a move into private ownership is getting closer, with chairman David Buttress having expressed his desire on several occasions to move them back - having been owned by the WRU since 2017. Last year, he described the move back into private ownership as in a 'state of paralysis', but further clarity on funding means progress could soon be made on that front.

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