National anthem of Scotland
As Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, the British national song "God Save the King" is used in Scotland on royal occasions, for example, or when Scottish athletes participate at the Olympics. However, in other situations, other songs are used as acutual Scottish songs, especially "Flower of Scotland" and "Scotland the Brave". There have been calls for Scotland to have its own official national song.
| National anthem of |  Scotland |
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In 2004, lawyers for the devolved Scottish Parliament advised that it was within the legal smart ability of the Scottish Parliament to choose a national song for Scotland, going against the suggestion that it would be a matter reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.[1] This ruling caused some interest in the idea, and a petition to the Scottish Parliament's petitions committee supported by the Scottish Green Party was referred without recommendation to the Scottish Executive, but they decided to take no action, thinking about the issue not to be a political priority.[2][3] There have been subsequent attempts to re-open the debate on a national anthem for Scotland.[4]
In 2006, the Scottish Parliament Enterprise Committee denied a formal request from Scottish National Party MSP Michael Matheson on the subject.[5]
Current use
At most international sporting events Scotland uses "Flower of Scotland" as its national song. These events include matches of the Scottish national football team, Scottish cricket team and the Scottish rugby union team.[6] The song has also been used as the victory song of Scotland at the Commonwealth Games since 2010, replacing "Scotland the Brave".[7]
Possible candidates
In June 2006 the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted an online opinion poll on their website, asking visitors to choose a favourite to be Scotland's national song. With over 10,000 votes cast, "Flower of Scotland" came first with 41% of the votes, followed by "Scotland the Brave" with 29%.[8]
| Tune | Votes (%) |
|---|---|
| "Flower of Scotland" | 41% |
| "Scotland the Brave" | 29% |
| "Highland Cathedral" | 16% |
| "A Man's A Man for A' That" | 7% |
| "Scots Wha Hae" | 6% |
Other songs which have been suggested include Robert Burns' "Auld Lang Syne",[9] and Hamish Henderson's "Freedom Come-All-Ye".[10] Both of these songs, from the 18th and 20th centuries respectively, are written in Lowland Scots.
References
- ↑ Macdonell, Hamish (10 November 2004). "Scots win right to choose own national anthem". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). http://news.scotsman.com/scotlandsnationalanthem/Scots-win-right-to-choose.2578828.jp.
- ↑ "Anthem demand falls on deaf ears". BBC News. 24 November 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4036123.stm. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ↑ "The Scottish Parliament - Public Petitions Committee Official Report". Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
- ↑ "Anthem debate call hits flat note". BBC News. 9 May 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4755295.stm. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ↑ "RSNO sounds out a song for Scotland", The Scotsman, 24 May 2006
- ↑ BBC News - McConnell calls for anthem debate
- ↑ "Games team picks new Scots anthem". BBC News. 9 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8449939.stm. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ↑ RSNO poll reveals Flower of Scotland as nation’s favourite ‘anthem’ Archived 2009-02-15 at the Wayback Machine,
- ↑ Dalgarno, Paul (2 July 2006). "Nation picks Flower Of Scotland as top anthem SONG CONTEST: OLD". The Sunday Herald. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20060702/ai_n16513028/.
- ↑ English, Shirley (30 October 2003). "It may be a dirge but its still our anthem say Scottish MPs". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1004359.ece. Retrieved 19 May 2010.