MSPs are feeling blue over shady Saltire business

MOST Scots do not mind what colour it is as long as it is blue and has a white cross on it.

But the precise shade of blue in the Saltire is about to become the subject of major debate in the Scottish parliament.

MSPs are to be asked to rule on the correct shade of blue following a decision by the Lord Lyon to give the Scottish parliament the power to decide on the colour of the national flag.

A petition will be submitted to the parliament this week, calling on MSPs to make a decision on the correct colour for the Saltire now that they have been given jurisdiction over it.

The row over the colour of the Saltire has rumbled along for the last two years, ever since an initial petition was submitted to the Scottish Parliament asking MSPs to decide which blue should be used.

At that time, two parliamentary committees ducked the decision, arguing that the colour of the Saltire was a reserved matter and had to be decided by Westminster.

Dr John Reid, the then Scottish Secretary, also tried to avoid getting involved, insisting that any shade of blue would suffice.

But the Lord Lyon King of Arms - the arbiter of all heraldic matters in Scotland - has decided that the colour of the Saltire is not a reserved matter and should be decided by the Scottish parliament. The Lord Lyon stated in a letter to the Saltire Society: "It seems to me that if anyone is to define a colour for the national flag this would need to be the Scottish parliament.

"Any decision to do this would not cause a conflict with Lyon’s jurisdiction."

And now George Reid, the retired accountant from Edinburgh who first raised the issue two years ago, is to table a new petition to the Scottish parliament calling for a ruling on the blue for the Scottish flag.

He believes that he will get an answer this time because the Scottish parliament can no longer dodge the issue by palming it off to London.

Mr Reid’s petition will go first to the petitions committee.

It is then likely to be forwarded to the education, culture and sport committee which could either make a ruling or pass it on to the whole Scottish parliament.

Mr Reid, who is 77, said he started his campaign to establish one proper colour for the Saltire after seeing a whole range of different shades of blue used in Scottish flags.

He said: "This is the oldest national flag in the world. I really became quite angry when I saw flags at Murrayfield and Hampden which were royal blue, powder blue and navy blue."

Mr Reid believes that azure, or sky blue, would be the correct colour and points to a Ministry of Defence regulation which requires the Saltire to be azure blue for military uses. Mr Reid has written to all 129 MSPs asking for their support in his campaign.

Tradition has it that the flag found its origins in a battle fought in 832AD at Athelstaneford in East Lothian when an Army of Picts under Angus Mac Fergus defeated a larger force of Angles and Saxons under Athelstan.

Fearful of the outcome, King Angus led prayers for deliverance and was rewarded by seeing a cloud formation of a white Saltire - the diagonal cross against which Saint Andrew had been martyred - against a clear blue sky.

The king vowed that if, with the Saint’s help, he gained the victory, then Andrew would become the patron saint of Scotland. The Scots did win and the Saltire became the flag of Scotland.

Mr Reid, an amateur historian, claims that darker blues began to be used for the Saltire in the last century, when dark blue dye was cheaper than sky-blue or azure. Unlike most other countries in Europe, there are no government restrictions on the design of the flag.

Irene McGugan, the SNP’s spokeswoman on sport and culture, said she wanted the Scottish Parliament to take a decision on the colour of the Saltire once and for all.

She said: "We don’t need a law or legislation, all the Executive needs to do is to make a statement recommending the correct colour. I’m sure flag makers would be more than happy to adhere to it."