The Scotland Flag Explained: The Story of the Saltire and How to Wear It

Picture a bright blue flag with a big white X across it. Maybe you've seen one at a rugby match, on a pub wall, or hanging off a balcony in Edinburgh. That's the flag of Scotland, and its backstory is better than most movies.

In this post we'll cover what the flag is called, where it came from, and a bunch of things about Scotland itself: its history, its food, its music, and its very odd national animal. After that we'll show you how to get the flag on a hoodie, sweatshirt, tee or cap. A few people always ask how we print our clothes, so we'll explain that too.

Here are the basics. Handy for homework, quiz night, or winning an argument at dinner.

The proper name is the Saltire. That's just a fancy word for a cross shaped like an X. People also call it St Andrew's Cross, after Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. Andrew was one of Jesus's twelve apostles, and tradition says he was put to death on an X-shaped cross. Scotland picked that shape as its symbol.

The legend of the cloud cross

There's a famous story about how the flag began. Around the year 832, a Pictish king named Óengus was about to fight a big battle near a place called Athelstaneford. The night before, he prayed for help. The next morning, white clouds stretched across the blue sky in the shape of an X. His army took it as a good sign, won the battle, and the white cross on blue became Scotland's badge.

Historians can't prove the details, so treat it as a legend. But Athelstaneford still calls itself the birthplace of the Scottish flag, and it has a small flag heritage center to prove it.

What we do know for sure is that in 1385 the Scottish Parliament told its soldiers to wear a white St Andrew's cross on their clothes, front and back, so they could tell who was on their side. Over time, the white cross on a blue background turned into the flag we know today.

Why blue and white?

There's no official meaning, but the legend gives us a nice answer. Blue is the sky and white is the cloud cross. The exact blue has changed a lot over the centuries, sometimes light and sometimes dark navy. Today the official guidance recommends a bright blue called Pantone 300, close to the blue you can see in the photo at the top of this page.

The Saltire and the Union Jack

The Union Jack is the flag of the whole United Kingdom, and it's made by stacking three crosses. England's red cross (St George), Scotland's white X (St Andrew) and Ireland's red X (St Patrick). Next time you see a Union Jack, look for the wide white diagonal stripes. That's the Saltire, hiding in there.

You might also spot a red lion on a gold background. That's the Royal Standard of Scotland. It's officially a royal banner, so the Saltire is the flag most people wave.

Scotland's story is very long, so here's the speed-run version.

The Romans couldn't crack it

The Romans pushed north in the first century AD, but Scotland was hard work. They built Hadrian's Wall around AD 122 and then the Antonine Wall further north around AD 142. They gave up on the Antonine Wall after only about twenty years, and they never took over the whole country. The tribes up north, including the Picts, stayed independent.

Picts and Scots become one kingdom

Over the next few hundred years, lots of groups shared the land: Picts, Gaelic-speaking Scots, Britons, Angles, and Vikings who raided and settled on the islands. Around AD 843, a king called Kenneth MacAlpin is traditionally said to have joined the Picts and Scots together. Slowly the kingdom of Alba grew into Scotland. The name comes from Scotia, a Latin word meaning land of the Scots.

The fight for freedom

This is the part with the movie characters. In 1296, England's King Edward I invaded. William Wallace and Andrew Moray led a rebel army and beat the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. Wallace was captured and executed in 1305. Then Robert the Bruce took over. He became king in 1306 and won a huge victory at Bannockburn in 1314.

In 1320, Scottish nobles sent a letter to the Pope called the Declaration of Arbroath. In it they said, more or less, that they were fighting for freedom and nothing else. England finally accepted Scotland as an independent kingdom in 1328.

Queens, kings and a big merger

Mary, Queen of Scots became queen in 1542 when she was only six days old. Later she was held prisoner in England and executed in 1587. Her son James VI was already king of Scotland, and in 1603 he became king of England too when Queen Elizabeth I died with no children. Same king, two countries. In 1707 the two parliaments joined together and Great Britain was formed.

Rebellions, banned kilts and the Highland Clearances

Not everyone in Scotland liked the new deal. The Jacobites, who backed the old royal family, rose up several times. Their last big fight was the Battle of Culloden in 1746, and they lost. Afterward the government banned tartan and Highland dress for more than 30 years. Yes, kilts were against the law.

In the years that followed, many Highland families were pushed off their land during what's called the Highland Clearances. Lots of them sailed to the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. That's a big reason millions of people around the world have Scottish roots today.

Scotland today

In 1999, Scotland got its own parliament back in Edinburgh. It makes decisions about things like health and schools. In 2014, Scots voted on whether to become a fully independent country, and about 55 percent voted no.

The timeline in one look

For a country about the size of South Carolina, Scotland has an enormous personality. Here are some of our favorite things.

Tartan, kilts and clans

A clan is a big family group, and many clans have their own tartan, which is a pattern of crisscross stripes. There are thousands of registered tartans. A kilt is the pleated tartan skirt-like garment (Scots would like you to never call it a skirt), and people still wear them to weddings, parties and Highland games.

Bagpipes and ceilidhs

Bagpipes are the sound most people think of first. You either love them or you hear them from three streets away and change your mind. A ceilidh (say it KAY-lee) is a party with folk music and lots of dancing, usually with a caller shouting out the steps.

Highland Games

Every summer, towns across Scotland hold Highland Games. There are pipe bands, dancing, tug-of-war, and heavy events like the hammer throw and the caber toss. A caber is a giant tree trunk, and you have to flip it end over end. Nobody said it was a sensible sport.

Food and drink

Let's talk about haggis. There's an old joke that it's a small furry animal with legs shorter on one side. It isn't. It's a savory food made from sheep organs, oats, onion and spices. It's usually served with "neeps and tatties", which are turnips (or swedes) and potatoes. Other favorites include shortbread, a buttery cookie, and Irn-Bru, a bright orange soda that Scots are very loyal to.

Then there's whisky. Scots spell it without the "e". The word comes from the Gaelic uisge beatha, which means "water of life".

Burns Night and Hogmanay

Robert Burns, born on January 25, 1759, is Scotland's national poet. Every year on that date, people hold Burns Night suppers with haggis, poems and songs. He also wrote the words to "Auld Lang Syne", the song people all over the world sing at New Year.

Speaking of New Year, Scots call it Hogmanay, and Edinburgh throws one of the biggest street parties on Earth. There's even a tradition called first-footing. The first person to walk through your door after midnight is supposed to bring good luck, and often a small gift such as shortbread.

Its own words

Scottish Gaelic is still spoken today, mostly in the Highlands and islands, and it's taught in schools. Scots is another language with fun words: wee (small), bairn (child), braw (great). Even a few place words made it into English. A loch is a lake, a glen is a valley, and a ben is a mountain.

Big brains

Scotland has produced an incredible number of inventors. Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh, patented the telephone. John Logie Baird demonstrated early television. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. John Boyd Dunlop developed the pneumatic tire. And in 1996, scientists at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh introduced Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

Golf, lochs and unicorns

Golf was invented here. The Old Course at St Andrews is known as the home of golf, and people have played the game on that land for hundreds of years. In 1457, the king even banned golf because people were playing it instead of practicing archery. It didn't work.

Scotland is also famous for Loch Ness, where a certain monster is said to live. The loch is so big that it holds more fresh water than every lake in England and Wales put together. And about that unicorn: Scottish kings put unicorns on the royal coat of arms hundreds of years ago. The unicorn stood for strength and wildness, and it stuck as the national animal.

A flag this good deserves to be worn. The photo at the top shows a Scotland flag tee, sweatshirt and cap, and that's a small taste of what we make. At Expressionize you can get the Scotland flag on hoodies, sweatshirts, tee shirts and caps, in a range of base colors, so you can pick the one that suits you.

Every garment comes in 8 sizes, S–5XL. That's the whole point. Buying for a kid, a grandad, or yourself? There's a size that fits.

And Scotland is only the start. We also have flag clothing for lots of other countries, so you can rep wherever your family comes from, wherever you were born, or wherever you loved visiting.

Here's how to find yours:

1.     Go to expressionize.com.

2.     Type the name of the country you want into the search bar in the top menu. Try "Scotland" first.

3.     Choose a hoodie, sweatshirt, tee shirt or cap, and pick your base color.

4.     Choose your size, S–5XL, and check out.

DTG stands for direct to garment. Picture the inkjet printer you might have at home, except that instead of paper, it prints straight onto a hoodie or tee. The garment goes in, the design goes on, and the ink soaks into the fabric.

Here's why we like it:

It looks sharp. DTG handles fine detail and lots of colors really well. The clean lines of the Saltire, and the crisp blue and white, come out nice and bold.

It feels good. Because the ink goes into the fabric instead of sitting on top like a thick sticker, prints tend to feel soft when you wear them.

There's no big minimum. Old-school printing often needs a set-up for each design and a huge order to make it worthwhile. DTG doesn't. One design on one shirt is fine.

Here's how a lot of clothing works. A factory makes thousands of shirts, guessing how many people will want them. They get shipped to a warehouse and stored. Whatever doesn't sell gets marked down, or thrown away.

Print on demand flips that around. Nothing gets printed until someone orders it. No guessing, and no mountain of leftovers.

That's better for the planet, because we're not making clothes that nobody wants. It isn't magic, but making only what's ordered means a lot less waste. It's also better for your wallet. We don't have to pay to store piles of stock or sell off leftovers at a loss, so we can keep our prices highly competitive.

You don't need a special reason. But here are some good ones. St Andrew's Day on November 30. Burns Night on January 25. Tartan Day on April 6, which is celebrated in the USA and Canada. Rugby and football matches. Highland games. Family reunions. A trip to Scotland. Or a gift for anyone with Scottish roots, which turns out to be a lot of people.

What is the flag of Scotland called?

It's called the Saltire, or St Andrew's Cross. It's a white diagonal cross on a blue background.

What do the colors of the Scottish flag mean?

There's no official meaning. Legend says the blue is the sky and the white cross is the cloud pattern seen before a battle around the year 832.

When is Scotland's national day?

St Andrew's Day, on November 30.

Is the Saltire part of the Union Jack?

Yes. The Union Jack combines the crosses of St George (England), St Andrew (Scotland) and St Patrick (Ireland).

What Scotland flag clothing does Expressionize sell?

Hoodies, sweatshirts, tee shirts and caps showing the Scotland flag, in a range of base colors and sizes S–5XL.

Can I get flags from countries other than Scotland?

Yes. Type the name of any country into the search bar in the top menu at expressionize.com to see what's available.

What is DTG printing?

DTG means direct to garment. A printer applies the design straight onto the fabric, which gives sharp, full-color results with no minimum order.

Why is print on demand good for the environment?

Items are only printed after they're ordered, so there's no overproduction and much less unsold stock going to waste.

So that's the story of one blue-and-white flag: a cloud cross, a saint, a lot of battles, a few inventors, some questionable food, and a unicorn. Scottish, part Scottish, or just a fan of a great flag, you can wear it your way.

Head over to expressionize.com, type "Scotland" into the search bar in the top menu, and take a look at the hoodies, sweatshirts, tee shirts and caps. Want a different country? Type that instead. We've probably got it.

Slàinte mhath! That's Gaelic for "cheers".

Shop the collection: Country Flag T-Shirts, Hoodies & Caps