The Crown () is one of the main awards presented at the Urdd National Eisteddfod, the annual Welsh-language youth festival and counterpart to the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
The Crown is generally awarded for the best submitted piece or pieces of prose literature of more than 4,000 words or sometimes 2,500 words.
A unique crown is designed and created each year, normally reflecting aspects of the location of the Urdd Eisteddfod in its design, symbolism or materials. Winners had generally been allowed to keep a small replica of the Urdd Crown but, since 2011, have been allowed to permanently keep the original.
The first Urdd Eisteddfod Crown was awarded in 1931, won by Rhiannon Collins from Tumble, near Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. The 1931 crown was discovered, still with its velvet presentation box, for sale in a second-hand shop in Swansea in 2007. It was restored and given to the Llanelli Welsh-medium secondary school, Ysgol Gyfun y Strade, who suggested they would use it to wear at their school eisteddfods. The 1931 Crown was on the stage for the crowning ceremony at the 2007 Urdd National Eisteddfod in Carmarthen.
At the 2005 Urdd Eisteddfod in Cardiff the Crown was initially awarded to trainee journalist, Llinos Dafydd, for a controversial work that included dialogue with a paedophile and a prostitute, and a section about bribing the Eisteddfod judges. However, a complaint was made a few days later that she had used an extract from someone else's work without acknowledgment. Dafydd pointed out two other instances in her work, saying she had been "negligent and careless". She relinquished the prize in favour of the writer who had been placed second. Gwenno Mair Davies, a drama and media studies teacher, was presented with the Crown at a ceremony in Caernarfon later that month.
In 2018 the winner, 20-year-old Sioned Erin Hughes was too ill to attend the crowning ceremony because of a rare medical condition. The crown was placed on the chair in her absence and her college lecturer accepted the award on her behalf.
In 2026 19-year-old Elin Undeg Williams won the Crown, marking an unprecedented run of three female winners in a row.
Recent winners of the Urdd Crown
Year LocationWinnerPen-nameSubjectNo. ofentrants 2026Anglesey Elin Undeg Williams (Shelter) 14 2025 Margam Park Mali Elwy (Melting) 17 2024Meifod Tegwen Bruce-Deans (Dawning) 19 2023Llandovery Owain Williams (Seeds) 2022 Denbigh Twm Ebbsworth Pysgodyn Aur (Cover/Covers) 7 2021Virtually(Eisteddfod T) Megan Angharad Hunter Lina (Mask/Masks) 2020Postponed due toCOVID-19 – – – 2019 Cardiff Bay Brennig Davies Fleur De Taf 2018 Builth Wells Sioned Erin Hughes (Terrorism) 2017 Pencoed (Bridgend) Elen Gwenllian Hughes (Freedom) 17 2016 Flint Iestyn Tyne (Horizons) 14 2015 Caerphilly Dylan Edwards Didion 1967 (Betrayal) 2014Bala (Merionydd) Llio Elain Maddocks Llongau Bach (Distance) 17 2013Boncath(Pembrokeshire) Guto Dafydd Yelizaveta (Hands) 15 2012 Glynllifon Anni Llyn (To sprout/bud) 2011 Swansea Llŷr Titus Gwern (Boundaries) 2010Llanerchaeron Catrin Haf Jones 2009Cardiff Bay Lleucu Hughes 2008 Conwy Dewi Huw Owen (Value) 2007 Carmarthen Rhiannon Marks (Coming back) 10 2006Ruthin(Denbighshire) Gwenno Mair Davies Rhywun Arall (Belonging) 17 2005Cardiff Bay Gwenno Mair Davies (Recognize)
See also Chair of the Urdd National Eisteddfod Crowning of the Bard
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