Editing Plaid Cymru (section)

====Second National Assembly (2003–07)====
The [[2003 National Assembly for Wales election|Assembly elections of May 2003]] saw the party's representation drop from 17 to 12, with the seats gained in the 1999 election falling again to Labour and the party's share of the vote declining to 21%. Plaid Cymru narrowly remained the second-largest party in the National Assembly ahead of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and [[Forward Wales]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

On 15 September 2003, [[folk music|folk-singer]] and county councillor [[Dafydd Iwan]] was elected as Plaid Cymru's president. Ieuan Wyn Jones, who had resigned from his dual role as president and Assembly group leader following the losses in the 2003 Assembly election, was re-elected in the latter role. [[Elfyn Llwyd]] remained the Plaid Cymru leader in the Westminster Parliament. Under Iwan's presidency the party formally adopted a policy of independence for Wales within Europe.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} Plaid Cymru had historically supported Welsh independence but dropped this policy ahead of the 1999 devolved election.<ref name=":1" />

The 2004 local election saw the party lose control of the two South Wales councils it gained in 1999, [[Rhondda Cynon Taff]] and [[Caerphilly]], while retaining its stronghold of Gwynedd in the north-west. The results enabled the party to claim a greater number of ethnic minority councillors than all the other political parties in Wales combined,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epolitix.com/EN/Interviews/200609/f6812672-57e0-4c07-941d-195cbb65b1f4.htm |title=Elfyn Llwyd — Plaid Cymru parliamentary leader ePolitix interview |publisher=Epolitix.com |date=6 September 2006 |access-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216165431/http://www.epolitix.com/EN/Interviews/200609/f6812672-57e0-4c07-941d-195cbb65b1f4.htm |archive-date=16 February 2008 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> along with gains in authorities such as Cardiff and [[Swansea]], where Plaid Cymru representation had been minimal. In the European Parliament elections of the same year, the party's vote share fell to 17.4%, and the reduction in the number of Welsh MEPs saw its representation reduced to one.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

[[File:History of Plaid Cymru logo.jpg|thumb|Old logo (above) and new logo (below)]]

In the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|general election]] of 5 May 2005, Plaid Cymru lost the [[Ceredigion (UK Parliament constituency)|Ceredigion]] seat to the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]; this result was a disappointment to Plaid, who had hoped to gain [[Ynys Môn (UK Parliament constituency)|Ynys Môn]]. Overall therefore, Plaid Cymru's Parliamentary representation fell to three seats, the lowest number for the party since 1992. The party's share of the vote fell to 12.6%.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/region_10.stm |title=Election 2005 results, Wales |work=[[BBC News]] |date=1 June 2005 |access-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218051930/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/region_10.stm |archive-date=18 February 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru reformation to 'Plaid Cymru' in 1933, the logo representing the party was the green 'triban' (three peaks) which symbolically represented Plaid's three key goals; self-government, cultural prosperity and economic prosperity, 'anchored in the bedrock of Welsh identity and history that is the Welsh upland landscape',<ref>{{cite book |isbn=978-1-4725-3373-9 |first=Marianna |last=Dudley|title=An Environmental History of the UK Defence Estate, 1945 to the Present |date=16 January 2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}{{Page needed|date=August 2022}}</ref> the logo would change in the late stages of 20th century to include the red dragon of Wales, however this version was short-lived. In 2006, the party voted constitutional changes to formally designate the party's leader in the assembly as its overall leader, with [[Ieuan Wyn Jones]] being restored to the full leadership and [[Dafydd Iwan]] becoming head of the voluntary wing of the party.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4718082.stm |title=UK &#124; Wales &#124; Jones 'to return as Plaid leader' |work=[[BBC News]] |date=2006-02-16 |access-date=2022-08-06 |archive-date=29 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629154901/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4718082.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The party unveiled a radical change of image in 2006. In that year, the party opted to use "Plaid" as the party's name, although "Plaid Cymru — the Party of Wales" would remain the official title. Plaid would abandon the triban (apart from the merchandise) and adopt the yellow [[Welsh poppy]] (''Meconopsis cambrica'').<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/4744956.stm |title=Plaid image change 'a new start' |work=[[BBC News]] |date=24 February 2006 |access-date=6 May 2016 |archive-date=6 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806084526/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/4744956.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>