The dragon motif is known in Celtic art in diverse styles, and is presumed to have derived from a serpent-like creature in ancient folklore of the Middle East and Greece. Both the Greeks and the Romans considered the serpent to be a guardian spirit, represented on their altars. Western Celtic peoples were familiar with dragons in the pre-Christian age, and native people of Britain are said to have worn Celtic decorations with motifs of dragons on them during the Roman invasion. There is also archaeological evidence that the continental Celts used brooches and pins in the form of a dragon during the La Téne period from to 1 AD. Some suggest that the native Britons of Europe may have brought the dragon with them when they migrated to Britain before the Roman age. The earliest known use of the dragon by the Celts appears in swords and sheaths in the 4th century BC. One example found in Britain is an early Iron Age Celtic sword that features two opposing dragons, queried to be from the Hallstatt culture. Two other swords and scabbards (also from the bottom of the river Thames) are thought to include a dragon pair from the La Tène or Hallstatt cultures. Discovery of Celtic dragon-pairs in the Thames suggests that links existed between Britain and the rest of the Celtic world in the decades around 300 BC. Evidence in coins also shows Celticised dragons in 50–45 BC.
The dragon motif is known in Celtic art in diverse styles, and is presumed to have derived from a serpent-like creature, in ancient folklore of the Middle East and Greece. Both the Greeks and the Romans considered the serpent to be a guardian spirit, represented on their altars. Western Celtic peoples were familiar with dragons in the pre-Christian age, and native people of Britain are said to have worn Celtic decorations with motifs of dragons on them during the Roman invasion. There is also archaeological evidence that the continental Celts used brooches and pins in the form of a dragon during the La Téne period from to 1 AD. Some suggest that the native Britons of Europe may have brought the dragon with them when they migrated to Britain before the Roman age. The earliest known use of the dragon by the Celts appears in swords and sheaths in the 4th century BC. One example found in Britain is an early Iron Age Celtic sword that features two opposing dragons, queried to be from the Hallstatt culture. Two other swords and scabbards (also from the bottom of the river Thames) are thought to include a dragon pair from the La Tène or Hallstatt cultures. Discovery of Celtic dragon-pairs in the Thames suggests that links existed between Britain and the rest of the Celtic world in the decades around 300 BC. Evidence in coins also shows Celticised dragons in 50–45 BC.