There are bucket hats all overWales. Not just in the crowd when the national football team play, but on schoolyards, city centre squares, and even in hardware shops, hanging incongruously above paint pots and tools.
The distinctive red, yellow and green colors are an emblem of a footballing nation in the midst of its most glorious era, and the ubiquity of the hats reflects the team's unprecedented success.
This was not the case before. It's far from it.
In 1994, only 11 people went to Georgia to watch Wales get thrashed by five goals.
Richard Grigg was one of the 11 people in Tbilisi who called it the best-kept secret.
There are an estimated 3,000 fans who are on their way to follow Wales at the World Cup in the Middle East.
The number of people in Bordeaux for Wales' opening match of Euro 2016 would be greater if it were in a more accessible country.
The sea of red which descended on France that summer embodied a new age for Welsh football, not only triumphant on the pitch but also representing a new national confidence away from it.
The Red Wall, the name of the team that gave their travelling band of supporters, was recognised with an "outstanding contribution" award from Uefa.
The scenes in France felt like a dream for people who had been through a lot.
The sport's greatest problem in Wales was apathy, with attendances as low as 4,000 for some games.
The fan culture of Welsh football is very strong.
A packed stadium on an international matchday is an exhilarating assault on the senses, a heady cocktail of colour and noise, from the pounding pre- match beats of Zombie Nation to Yma o Hyd, a defiant 1983 folk song by Dafydd Iwan.
There is a lot of passion and ritual.
I think it's a carnival atmosphere. Wales manager Robert Page says that it's the anthem, bucket hats, and jerseys.
We try to get as many supporters in the stadium as possible before the game so that we can create that atmosphere and it's worked for us.
There's a connection with the supporters. I played for Wales for a long time and have never felt anything like what we are at this point in time.
Most former players and almost every supporter would agree with Page's experience.
The deputy chair of Uefa's women's football committee is Laura McAllister, a former Wales captain who is now a professor of public policy and governance.
I've never seen anything like it in my life supporting Wales, and I went to my first game when I was three, because my grandfather was a big Cardiff City and Wales fan, so it's always been a big part of my life
It was always odd to be a football fan in Wales. Our perception of the nation is greatly influenced by the men's and women's teams.
The national football team, its fans and the nation used to be almost non-existent. A small group of people were engaged in a pursuit.
We have come full circle. Football is a good indicator of where we are as a nation, in terms of our self-confidence and our place on the world stage, as well as our own internal perception of ourselves.
Grigg has been to more than 80 Wales away matches since attending his first in 1988 and is part of a group of supporters who have witnessed that transformation up close.
For World Cup or Euros, we had 11 in Georgia, but I think it was only 11 of us in the other countries. He says it was enjoyable.
I had never seen anything like it when we were in Bordeaux for the first game. It was wonderful.
I enjoy it now and I welcome everyone who comes along. I think it's great and I hope there will be a lot of people going to the country.
It's a different culture to what it was. There is more use of the Welsh language in songs and more people speak Welsh.
One of my friends from Germany has been following Wales for a long time and he's learned Welsh so he can understand everyone.
Sport can give small countries the kind of platform and global recognition they can only dream of.
Rugby union, cycling, and other Olympic events have been a success for Wales, but football is not as well known.
It was important for Wales to qualify for the European Championships for the second year in a row. Playing at these tournaments brought Wales to the attention of new audiences who may have seen the dragon on the flag or heard the Welsh language for the first time.
The World Cup has a different effect on the world than the Euros. Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of the Welsh Government, will be in the Middle East to try and grasp that opportunity.
The country's fans, red-shirted and bucket-hatted, will be the most visible ambassadors in the country.
"The World Cup gives us a massive opportunity, not only for how we use it in terms of the sport, but also for our own lack of self-confidence, because that is still there."
"If we can connect the real sense of engagement around national identity in football with the wider environment around the whole nation, that could be a real fillip and a real boost to the way we see ourselves."
It's putting a lot of pressure on football. The rest of the nation does not owe football anything.
This is a moment where we can show we're a successful nation. When people think of Wales, they usually think of us being at the bottom of league tables in education or health, but they don't contextualise that with history, demographic and economics.
We're going to the World Cup for the first time in 64 years and we're competing in our own right against nations that are much bigger and more successful than us. The distinctiveness of Wales will be projected onto the world.
In order to gain a deeper understanding of thecrippling lack of self-confidence which has afflicted Wales, it is advisable to look into the country's history in the 13th century.
She says that Wales was conquered. Things that distinguished us were suffocated after it was annexed and conquered.
The truth is a historical truth. It's true, people don't like hearing it in that way.
There were attempts to end the Welsh language, the distinctiveness of religion in Wales, and the distinctiveness of education.
Football, the FAW and the players understand the importance of the language.
There are some Welsh speakers in the men's and women's squad, but they're a small minority, and the whole of the squad embraces the importance of using the anthem.
The national anthem of Wales will be the anthem of the terraces in Qatar.
I don't think you can say how powerful that will be because everything about us as a nation will be on display.
The emblems of Welshness have been harnessed to make them cornerstones of the FAW's World Cup strategy.
The official song of Wales for the tournament is Yma o Hyd. The accompanying video contains archive footage of some of the most significant moments in Welsh history, from the Tryweryn to pro-Welsh language protests.
The video is a bold and unapologetic declaration that there is no separation between Wales and its troubled past.
National pride and history were important to Wales. While the Empire State Building was lit up in red, white and blue for the occasion, Page returned to his hometown in the Rhondda Fach valley.
The last remaining miners' welfare hall in the area and a five minute walk from his childhood home is where the former Wales centre-back revealed his 26 man squad.
The day felt more like a festival than a squad announcement as Page visited a primary school in the morning and joined in with training sessions. There was a bucket hat on the halfway line.
There are many symbols of the team in Wales.
It is no longer counterculture. Ryan March, who runs the Alternative Wales fanzine, says that it's become mainstream now.
I remember thinking when I was in university, when I saw a group of girls in Wales tops, that was after the Poland game.
People are interested in being involved in it. I enjoy it more now that I am older than I used to. It's a positive Welsh culture if you add more people.
We are not like any other country. I'm happy I'm a part of it because it's forged who I am.
Bale described the team as a "band of brothers" because of their bonds with each other.
While their success on the pitch has helped attract legions of new followers, it is also true that the Red Wall's vibrant support has dragged them through difficult moments as well as celebrating their triumphs.
"Everyone looks for something in their life that makes them feel part of something, whether it's music or film or whatever, people have their communities and in football I found mine at a young age."
It's not just about 90 minutes on the pitch, it's the people and what you do around it, and Wales do it better than anyone.
The secret is out, and we used to say it was the best kept secret. It won't get back to what it was in the late 2000s if we don't make future tournaments.
It's more damaging to be indifferent than angry. It will take a long time for the thing to disappear.
The supporter culture did not happen because of the success. The success has helped but the FAW has helped as well.
"You can't point to one person, there are many other heroes such as Ian Gwyn Hughes at the FAW, Gary Speed and fans like Tim Williams." He's a humble man and he's created a phenomena.
The name of Williams' clothing range is named after the year when Wales were last at a World Cup, but there is more to it than that.
They are going to be ubiquitous once more in the country.
Welsh fans can be seen from their bucket hats. The other teams look like that.
Thousands of people are wandering down the streets in bucket hats singing Yma o Hyd.
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