Scottish Blog

Flower of Scotland is regarded by many as the unofficial Scottish national anthem.

For many, Flower of Scotland is the answer to the lack of an official Scottish national anthem. In fact a recent poll by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra showed that it is Scotland’s preferred national anthem candidate, leading at 41% of votes, against its closest competitor, Scotland the Brave at 29%. The popularity of Flower of Scotland stretches even further, the song is sung in all instances by the Scottish national rugby union team and its fan’s.

There are many debates and views on Flower of Scotland and its competing Scottish national anthem nominees. The predominant arguments for the use of Flower of Scotland include its strong ties to Scottish history (as it is based on the Battle of Bannockburn) and it makes no mention of “God save the Queen”, making it more appropriate for Scottish and English sports exhibitions. On a negative note though, Flower of Scotland is reputedly a more advanced song to perform on bagpipes due to its use of the flat seventh note.
The current lyrics of Flowers of Scotland are:

O Flower of Scotland,
When will we see,
Your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.
The hills are bare now,
And autum leaves lie thick and still,
O'er land that is lost now,
Which those so dearly held,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.
Those days are past now,
And in the past
They must remain,
But we can still rise now,
And be the nation again,
That stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.