Is this an innocent picture of a girl with a flag or cynical propaganda?

Published on Saturday 12 December 2009 19:15

ON A summer's day in 1914, Franklin K Lane, then US secretary of the interior, imagined holding a conversation with the flag fluttering in the breeze outside his Washington DC office.

• Photograph: PA

"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may become," Old Glory told him. "Sometimes I am loud, garish and full of ego that blasts judgment. But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try for."

The speech Lane went on to deliver on Flag Day, when the US commemorates the adoption of its national symbol, is now a textbook staple for schoolchildren there.

At its heart, his address makes clear that a flag alone has no meaning. For better or worse, it is weighed down with symbolism only when imbued with the beliefs of an individual or an organisation.

Last week, the sensitivities surrounding Scotland's national ensign were brought into sharp focus courtesy of a simple Christmas card being used this festive season by Alex Salmond. Titled A New Journey the design featured a young girl in a wintry landscape clutching a Saltire.

Far from inducing universal goodwill, the image, designed by the artist Gerard Burns, prompted an angered response from the First Minister's opponents.

David McLetchie, the Scottish Conservative chief whip, accused Salmond of attempting to "politicise Christmas", having already tried to do likewise with Scotland's national flag. "His obsession with independence is blinding him to reality."

His Liberal Democrat counterpart, Mike Rumbles, agreed: "I'm sure people would be more impressed if the First Minister had thought about the message of Christmas rather than spend time picking out the most nationalistic Christmas card he could find."

The party political fall-out over the alleged misappropriation of the Saltire is not without precedent.

Last year, an argument broke over plans to revamp the livery of Scotrail's trains with Saltires. Though the redesign was sanctioned before the SNP took the seat of government, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock claimed the initiative was "all part of the SNP's independence by creep".

Yet the attacks on Nationalists hogging the Saltire for their own purposes appear curious when it is considered that Scottish Labour now features the Saltire in its promotional material, with plans to use it as a campaign logo in the forthcoming General Election. In September, Jim Murphy, the Scottish secretary, made clear his intentions to "reclaim the Saltire" to ensure voters are aware no one party has a monopoly on patriotism.

"I don't want to own the flag, I want to share it," he said. "The flag belongs to all of us. It boils down to the fact that all nationalists are patriots, but not all patriots are nationalists, and we've allowed the two to be conflated. We took our eye off the ball."

So can the Saltire, intended to represent a whole nation, really be hijacked by one political faction? Can a flag ever be a truly neutral symbol? And what does the Saltire signify in today's Scotland?

FOR those versed in the history of the Saltire, the latest row was mere bluster. As the nation's flag, they argue, it should be a source of pride for all.

"The card looked fine to me," said Ian Scott, vice-chair of the Saltire Society. "I don't see any reason why our government shouldn't issue a card with the Saltire on it. It's a flag that represents our long and distinguished history, and it's a pity there was such a childish reaction to it."

Established in 1936 to promote awareness of Scotland's distinct natural and cultural heritage, it has no reservations over the use of the Saltire by political parties.

Scott added: "I'd be happy to see all the Scottish parties use it more often. It's our national flag, and I'm happy to see it flying from as many buildings as often as possible. It will always be a symbol of continuity spanning many, many centuries. It's something which links our modern present to a distinguished past."

Graham Bartram, chief vexillologist with the Flag Institute, the world's leading research and documentation centre for flags, is a man who has spent his life researching flags and their power. He agrees that the SNP's use of the Saltire is undeserving of histrionics.

"I don't quite see the controversy in the card," he said. "It is a Scottish nationalist political organisation using the flag of the country. If the SNP were to have featured someone in a snow scene wearing a kilt, it would have been described as a clichd image and not fitting in with modern Scotland."

WHATEVER the political squabbles it might provoke, no party's history can compare to that of the St Andrew's Cross. It generally accepted it became the symbol of Scotland's nationhood when it appeared on the Great Seal of Scotland in 1286.

Legend puts its origins four centuries earlier, referring to the battle of 832 between Angus mac Fergus, High King of Alba, and a force of Angles and Saxons at Athelstaneford, East Lothian. Encouraged by the appearance of a white cross in the sky, the Scots and Picts prevailed.

The first use of the Saltire, the heraldic name of the Cross of St Andrew, without the figure of the Saint came in 1385, when the Scots Parliament decreed that soldiers should wear it as a distinguishing mark. Around the same time, it appears on the five-shilling pieces minted in the reign of Robert III.

There is evidence of its use on flags in the 15th century, but the first example of a flag consisting solely of the Saltire dates from 1503, a white cross on a red field.

The origins of the blue background lie, some believe, with the Great Michael, a warship built in 1511 for James IV, which carried the flag. A Public Register of Arms established in 1672 showed the St Andrew's Cross was the badge of Scotland, with many seaport arms showing ships flying it.

Following the Act of Union the use of the flag declined, only to rise again in tandem with Scottish national feeling. "The Saltire has been a symbol of Scottishness for more than 1,000 years, far longer than any of the political parties," explained Bartram.

David Williamson, chair of the Scottish Flag Trust, said: "The flag belongs to every Scot. It is not the property of any one organisation, company, or individual, and is used widely, from the Scottish Government to the Scottish Ambulance Service, and various banks, companies, and political parties."

IRRESPECTIVE of whether it is annexed by political parties, the national flag is often a matter of contention. "Flags can be very emotive," Bartram suggested. "For example, there was a full-scale diplomatic rule when the Greeks insisted that Macedonians should change their flag because it used the Sun of Vergina, which Greece regards as a historic and powerful symbol."

Bartram pointed to several examples of national flags which bear strong resemblances to the flags of governing parties.

"In Zimbabwe, for instance, the flag of Zanu PF has the same coloured stripes as the country's flag, while the flag of India was very strongly based on that of the Congress Party, they're pretty much identical.

"We're quite fortunate that the flags we have are very old, and there is no need for controversy about changing them."

Certainly, the Saltire does not bear the burden of the Union flag, which for some represents centuries of bloodshed and oppression in the British Empire. That flag's identity was also tainted through its appropriation by extremist right-wing groups, but since other mainstream parties started to use it, Bartram said, such associations have petered out.

"Most people either have a positive or neutral view of the Saltire," he added. "They don't see it as a negative element of their country's makeup. There's a healthy level of respect for it.

"We remember it's just a symbol, and not as important as people."

Williamson agreed: "It's an extremely powerful image and a very emotive symbol. Only one other country, Jamaica, has the Saltire, but Scotland's is the most distinctive national flag in the world. It's the brand of the country. The flag has never had negative connotations."

Williamson and his colleagues at the trust, set up 25 years ago by the St Andrew Society to encourage the proper use of the national flag, are campaigning to encourage local authorities to fly it, and it has found favour in East Lothian and Fife.

"In Norway, you see the national flag being flown widely, and municipal town halls in Europe usually fly their national flag," he said.

The society has also asked churches to do likewise, pointing out that in England, the sight of the St George's Cross above a church tower is a common sight.

"Churches don't do it in Scotland," Williamson added. "It seems to a be a historic thing. Whether it goes back to the Reformation, I don't know."

Should the sight of a fluttering Saltire become even more commonplace, the society will be pleased. Doubtless, however, rows over its use will go on.

"Like all symbols, flags can be misinterpreted," Bartram suggested. "It's a piece of fabric… and what it means is down to what people invest in it."

As Old Glory warned Franklin Lane nearly a century ago: "I am whatever you make me, nothing more."

Azure sign of authenticity

According to the Scottish Flag Trust, a body which encourages the proper use of the national flag, there are various versions of the Saltire used, but only one is correct.

The technical description of the flag is azure, a saltire argent, featuring a diagonal white cross on a blue background.

The blue field of the flag should be bright azure in colour. The dark blue used in the Union flag, it says, is "too dark."

While there is no definitive colour codification for the Saltire, the trust advises that a proper lighter blue should be close to Pantone 300.

The other flag associated with Scotland, the Lion Rampant, is not a national flag, and its use by people and corporate bodies is "entirely wrong" according to the trust.

Established in 1672 by an Act of the Scottish Parliament, the Lion Rampant is the exclusive property of the Sovereign, and should be used only by a handful of people, including the secretary of state for Scotland. Anyone else using it, the trust says, is actually committing an offence.