page_title: Flag of Scotland
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Flag of Scotland / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A model of James IV's flagship, the 'Great Michael', made between 1984 and 1986 by George Scammell from Granton, near Newhaven where she was built.
context_page_description: The flag of Scotland consists of a white saltire defacing a blue field. The Saltire, rather than the Royal Standard of Scotland, is the correct flag for all private individuals and corporate bodies to fly. It is also, where possible, flown from Scottish Government buildings every day from 8:00 am until sunset, with certain exceptions.
  Use of the flag is first recorded with the illustration of a heraldic flag in Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount's Register of Scottish Arms, c. 1542. It is possible that this is based on a precedent of the late 15th century, the use of a white saltire in the canton of a blue flag reputedly made by Queen Margaret, wife of James III.
context_section_description: A white saltire was shown in the canton of the  "Blue Blanket of the Trades of Edinburgh", reputedly made by Queen Margaret, wife of James III (1451–1488). This is the flag of the Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh, and the focal point of the Riding of the Marches ceremony held in the city each year.
  Use of the white "Sanct Androis cors" on blue as a naval flag is recorded for 1507, for the carrack Great Michael. As a heraldic flag, the white saltire in a blue field is first shown in a 1542, in the armorial of David Lyndsay. Here, the royal arms are supported by two unicorns, each holding the saltire banner.
  Walter Bower in his Scotichronicon (1440s) supplies a legend according to which Saint Andrew appears to king  Óengus II in 832, on the eve of a battle against the Angles. The saint advises the king to watch for the "sign of the Cross of Christ in the air". The "Cross of Christ" in this legend is later turned into the Saint Andrew's Cross or Saltire, in the account of George Buchanan (1506–1582), where "a miraculous white saltire appeared in the blue sky" during the battle.
caption: Model of the Great Michael
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