Fancy pants love the national flag line in shorts

Now Davies is selling her wares to eager Americans and is using the web to tap an international market keen for a taste of Wales.

Shirley Bassey kicked off the craze, wearing the dress emblazoned with the Welsh emblem at the rugby competition's opening ceremony in the Millennium Stadium.

But now Davies, who works from home at Holywell, has given her line-up an international flavour, diversifying into the full gamut of Celtic-flagged clothes.

Flying flag

"The range has grown dramatically," she said. "We do everything from boxer shorts to swimwear and eveningwear.

"We sell the Irish quite a bit out in America, we sell the Welsh dragon a lot in Japan - we could sell that all over the world, actually.

"It's so powerful - a lot of people who purchase it don't realise it is the Welsh flag; they just think it's a garment."

The designs have won some famous fans

Davies's company, Jane Davies Cymru, is capitalising on a patriotism boom, with preparations for the Golden Jubilee and National Eisteddfod in full swing.

But it is the US holds the key to the dragon designer's expansion.

After attending America's Gymanfa Ganu - a Welsh singing festival - last year, requests have flooded in.

With an assistant at her side, she has opened three small outlets in the Golden State and is finding fortune selling to ex-pats keen for a wearable slice of Welsh life.

'English flag'

Online sales from as far as Australia and Japan have also proved a turn-on for the Flintshire production.

And the designer hopes to expand the fledgling operation across the US soon.

"I was approached by many Irish and Scottish people asking why I didn't make clothes using their flags," she adds.

"So I made clothing in all four of the British Isles flags."

One national line, however, did not do so well, according to the designer.

"The English flag doesn't go down very well. We have had to drop it from the collection," she said.