Gray designed a special front page for the "Sunday Herald" in May 2014 when it came out in favour of a "Yes" vote in that year's independence referendum, the first and only newspaper to do so. The newspaper described independence as "the chance to alter course, to travel roads less taken, to define a destiny", and the editor, Richard Walker, criticised the scare tactics of the "No" side and stressed that independence was normal. Gray's design, and his and the paper's support for independence, attracted widespread coverage at the time and later. The cover consists of a large thistle surrounded by Scottish saltires; Iain Macwhirter of the "Herald" wrote that it was "striking", and "The National" said Gray's image had "galvanised the 'Yes' movement". The "Sunday Herald"'s website doubled its traffic, and the newspaper's sales rose by 31% after it supported "Yes". Despite Scotland voting to remain, Gray felt the result was more favourable than a narrow Yes win.