"Flower of Scotland" is a Scottish song, frequently performed at special occasions and sporting events as an unofficial national

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

of Scotland. The song was composed in the mid-1960s by

Roy Williamson Roy Murdoch Buchanan Williamson (25 June 1936 – 12 August 1990) was a Scottish people, Scottish songwriter and folk musician, most notably with The Corries. Williamson is best known for writing "Flower of Scotland", which has become the de fa ...

of the folk group

the Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

. It was first heard publicly in a 1967 BBC television series. The words refer to the victory of the Scots, led by

Robert I Robert I may refer to: *Robert I, Duke of Neustria (697–748) *Robert I of France (866–923), King of France, 922–923, rebelled against Charles the Simple *Rollo, Duke of Normandy (c. 846 – c. 930; reigned 911–927) * Robert I Archbishop of ...

, over

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It was ...

in 1314. Although there is no official

national anthem of Scotland As Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, the British national anthem "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 ...

, "Flower of Scotland" is one of a number of songs which are used, along with the older "

Scotland the Brave "Scotland the Brave" ( gd, Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song, one of three often considered an unofficial Scottish national anthem (the others being "Flower of Scotland", and "Scots Wha Hae"). History The tune probably originated in ...

". The song was composed and is sung in English, with one Scots word ("Tae" for "To"). It has been translated into Scots.

Popular use

The song has been used as an anthem by the

Scotland rugby union team The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union and is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, ...

, ever since the winger, Billy Steele, encouraged his team-mates to sing it on the British Lions tour of South Africa in 1974. The song was adopted as the pre-game anthem for the

1990 Five Nations Championship The 1990 Five Nations Championship was the 61st series of the Five Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition between the major rugby union national teams in Europe. The tournament consisted of ten matches held between 16 January and ...

, first non-officially for the initial home game against France, then for the deciding match between Scotland and

at Murrayfield, which Scotland won 13–7 to win the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

. The

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

adopted "Flower of Scotland" as its pre-game national anthem in 1997 although it was first used by them in 1993. Usually only the first and third verses are sung. The most common shouted interjections are "'Gainst who?" and "Bastards". The song was used as the victory anthem of

Team Scotland Sports teams of Scotland is an incomplete list of the national sports teams representing Scotland. Scottish representative teams Multi-sport events *''Scotland'', the team sent by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland to represent the cou ...

at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, replacing "Scotland the Brave". This trend continued to the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

where it was again Team Scotland's anthem and was sung following a Scottish gold medal. It was sung four times when Team Scotland won four gold medals in the opening day. In July 2006, the

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five National performing arts companies of Scotland, national performing arts compa ...

conducted an online poll (publicised by ''

Reporting Scotland ''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. History Although BBC Television was established in Scotl ...

'') in which voters could choose a national anthem from one of five candidates. 10,000 people took part in the poll, in which "Flower of Scotland" came out the winner with 41% of the votes. At the

2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the pr ...

, the song was sung at

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

by 53 Scottish children selected from schools across Scotland. Paris Saint-Germain fans sing the chant "Ô Ville Lumière" ("City of Light") to the tune of Flower of Scotland.

References

External links

The Flower of Scotland
– Translation of lyrics into Scots Gaelic.
Page with eight National Anthem candidate songs, with lyrics and comments
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flower Of Scotland Flower of Scotland, The National symbols of Scotland Scotland national rugby union team Scotland national football team songs National anthem compositions in E-flat major Robert the Bruce 1967 songs