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Monday, 2nd November 2009 Change Date Latest Issue

Saltire plea in Parliament to be examined

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Published Date: 17 January 2009
A PLEA for the saltire to be displayed behind the presiding officer's chair in the Scottish Parliament has been passed on by MSPs to Holyrood bosses.
A petition to the parliament from Portobello office worker John Blyth and Helen McNeill, a colleague from Lochend, argued most countries have their national flag on show in their parliament chamber.

And the public petitions committee agreed to write to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, raising the issue.

However, last year the SPCB rejected a similar proposal to place the Scottish Parliament logo behind the presiding officer, saying the move could be "extremely difficult, not to mention costly".

Presiding officer Alex Fergusson told the petitions committee at the time: "The unique and recognisable architecture of the debating chamber has become synonymous with the Scottish Parliament and it has always been the intention of the SPCB that the focus should remain on this striking design."



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1

Grahamski,

Falkirk 17/01/2009 10:40:35
Philistines who don't understand architecture and design want to drape flags over our debating chamber to make a spurious point. How low on the trivial and petty scale are these nutty nats willing to go?
2

Finnzz,

17/01/2009 11:06:14
The complete d0gs dinner that was made of the design and build of the Parliament buildings could certainly do with covering up if we could get a flag big enough.
3

subrosa,

17/01/2009 11:51:40
# 2

We're thinking along the same lines.
4

Grahamski,

Falkirk 17/01/2009 11:56:38
As I said, philistines.........'I don't know much about architecture but I know what I like...'
5

Steveyt,

£ngland 17/01/2009 12:20:38
Why not Dispay the EU flag?, afterall the 'Scottish Parliament' is in fact in reality nothing but an EU Regional Assembly.
6

Grahamski,

Falkirk 17/01/2009 12:29:59
Why not show the designer some respect and leave it alone? Again, spittle-flecked ranting from the lunatic fringe of nationalism dominates proceedings. Is it too late to turn the building into something more meaningful, like a museum dedicated to Scottish navel-gazing perhaps?
7

Brian Hill,

17/01/2009 12:31:14
More reason for unionists to pull their hair out. Scottish Parliament is bad enough but yet another sign that it is Scottish being paraded in front of your eyes during each and every session...this will never do.

They'll be wanting the Saltire to fly above Edinburgh Castle next.....
8

Grahamski,

Falkirk 17/01/2009 12:40:04
7
You see, Brian, some of us don't have to proclaim our Scottishness at every turn. We're comfortable in our own skins so we don't need flags and pronouncements of scottishness to prove that we are Scottish.
This is trivial and shows just how provincial the nationalist Scot truly is. The chamber is a beautifully designed piece of architecture; it speaks volumes that anybody should feel the need to drape a flag over it. Essentially architectural vandalism.
9

eric,

lothian 17/01/2009 13:02:16
The building is an eyesore.those folks who moan about flag waving etc need to get out more.
10

Marian,

17/01/2009 13:07:29
It must be obvious to the dimmest Unionist that most nations like to proclaim their nationhood by displaying their national flag at every oppurtunity - just go to the USA or Canada and see the myriads of national flags everywhere. The fact that Scotland is indisputably an ancient and venerable nation which so happens to be temporarily allied within a United Kingdom "sticks in the craw" of every Unionist - hence why they attack everything that proclaims Scotland's nationhood.
11

Billiam Wallace,

17/01/2009 13:14:46
Grahamski wittering on again as usual. Anything to be negative. I bet he likes modern art too, something with a dogturd in formaldahyde would probably suit his cr-ap taste, if you'll pardon the pun. As John Blyth and Helen McNeill said, most countries have their flag on display in their parliament building, what's wrong with it? The trouble with Grahamski is that he ISN'T comfy in his own skin or else he would be delighted at the proposal as would any normal Scot who is proud of his country and its history. The flag doesn't have to be anything too intrusive, just a wee flagstaff on a stand. We have exactly the same thing in the village church, one staff for the butcher's apron and the other for the Saltire.
12

Billiam Wallace,

17/01/2009 13:17:23
#10 Marion "hence why they attack everything that proclaims Scotland's nationhood."

To the extent of changing the sky blue of the true saltire to the much darker blue present in the butcher's apron, yet another insult to the Scots and their heritage.
13

Grahamski,

Falkirk 17/01/2009 13:32:47
11.
Your philistinism knows no bounds. Why not just spray paint 'Scotland Forever' over the walls? That wouldn't be vandalism, oh no, that would be proclaiming Scotland's nationhood! Pathetic, small-minded, provincial and parochial nats. Don't you just love them?
14

Nevsky,,

Moscow 17/01/2009 14:19:08
13 Grah#

Could you explain what is parochial about displaying a national flag in the parliament building?

Are you in favour in that case of the removal of the union flag from all official governmental bodies?

Difference between the union flag being ok while the saltire is parochial please?

Or are you really such an twit?
15

Brian Hill,

17/01/2009 14:25:38
#9 eric says: "...those folks who moan about flag waving etc need to get out more.

If flags are so trivial eric, why are the unionists so adamant that the Union Jack should lord it above us from Edinburgh Castle rather than the Saltire, despite the Castle being Scotland's premier tourist icon?

It's well documented that tourists like to see different flags as a reminder that they are in different countries.

Around the middle of Friendship Bridge linking Thailand with Laos, Thai flags mark the end of Thailand, then there is a hundred metres or so of no man's land before Laos flags announce the beginning of Laos, all of this before we even touch land.

And as the scenery on both sides of the bridge looks exactly the same, as is so often the case, we need markers like flags to let us know we have crossed man made boundaries.

The Saltire is feared because it represents Independence, which is why you couldn't buy any in Scotland before the SNP revival leading up to the 1974 election........other than the ones I was having made in Fife which I took great delight in selling to stores and gift shops in Princess Street, the Royal Mile and outside Murrayfield and Hampden......all without a license, sorry about that.
16

Grahamski,

Falkirk 17/01/2009 14:38:37
15
'The Saltire is feared because it represents Independence, which is why you couldn't buy any in Scotland before ....1974'
wtf?
17

,

17/01/2009 14:55:04
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
18

Nevsky,,

Moscow 17/01/2009 15:09:06
If anyone could point to any country in the world that would object to having it's own national flag displayed in practically any context i would be interested to hear it!

Scotland must be the only country in the world with people who have such a laothing for their own country that they could object to the flying of their national flag.

Time many unionsist had a long hard look at themselves as they are an embarassement! Try explaining this one to foreigners and see the look on their faces..in fact you can't expalin it!
19

connaughtboy,

stonehaven 17/01/2009 15:42:22
Utterly depressing and treacherous of the Unionist Cringe Mob to object to a perfectly normal event.
20

connaughtboy,

stonehaven 17/01/2009 15:43:26
I can just see big Andy Kerr getting all flustered when the Saltire goes up in Holyrood.
21

Grahamski,

Falkirk 17/01/2009 15:45:41
19
Aye, what must be even more depressing is that that is the majority view, too....traitors the lot of them! Scotland's too good for the majority of Scots, they should be sent to England where they belong and leave Scotland for the 'real Scots'......
22

Observer,,

Glasgow 17/01/2009 15:50:38
Nothing wrong with displaying the Saltire but the Chamber wasn't designed for that purpose. Do we want to remove the Scottish Parliament logo ? Because it would need to be a straight swap for swap. I'm not convinced it's necessary to be honest the building is Scottish enough. But then I am in what seems to be a minority I like the Parliament building.
23

Observer,,

Glasgow 17/01/2009 15:51:08
21 Oh do calm down.
24

Grahamski,

Falkirk 17/01/2009 16:14:58
22
..just having a laugh. Anyway, I really like the parliament too, I think we should be pleased we have a modern and exciting building which is really quite kooky in its own wee way.
25

Mikey,

17/01/2009 16:40:44
I like the building as well, but I can't stand unionist cringers! If you bunch of muppets don't like it here, go!!!
26

Douglas,

Bathgate 17/01/2009 16:47:20
#24 Grahamski: "kooky"? Don't come here baffling us with your technical gobbledegook.

You're not having a laugh at all, you've just realised you're wrong and are now working on an exit strategy.
27

subrosa,

17/01/2009 17:07:29
Little chance of a saltire in the Scottish Parliament when the unionists won't even acknowledge our famous Scots.

http://tinyurl.com/8qzhob
28

gus1940,

Edinburgh 17/01/2009 17:11:15
Could somebody remind me which politician of which party landed us with the parliament building.
29

Brian Hill,

17/01/2009 18:53:38
#16 Grahamski They tried to quash the Saltire for the same reasons they tried to quash teaching Scottish history in schools i.e. to rob people of their identity in order to impose upon them a new identity, in this case 'British/English'. To do that you have to deny them their language, their history, their flag and their heroes.

Thus Scots can tell you more about Shakespeare than Burns or why people the world over (including many Scots) think Englishmen invented so many things which were in fact invented by Scots.

How? Because the BBC or some other English organ of the press or history book 'forgot' to mention that it was a Scot, therefore by implication it must have been an English inventor.

This will be called paranoia but there are many documented examples throughout history. look at the American Indians for example.

What's killing Britishness is the steady return of an awareness and appreciation of Scottishness and now even of Englishness which I wholeheartedly support.
30

Wardog™,

wardogblog.blogspot.com 17/01/2009 19:50:35

22. I'm in your minority Observer, I' go along with exactly what you've said, no problem in principal about the saltire being shown, I think the parliament building is Scottish enough for me.

There are saltires and indeed other powerful imagery all over the building if you look close enough.

Never thought I'd agree with Grahamski about the colour of grass but here I am....
31

Wardog™,

wardogblog.blogspot.com 17/01/2009 19:51:45

24. aye
32

NorT,

Edinburgh 17/01/2009 23:22:46
The flags don't need to be hung. They could be on poles which stand on the floor as you see in many churches etc. They would not distract from the architecture. At present unless you knew there is nothing to ondicate it is the Scottish Parliament.
33

Leslie Thomson,

Moredun 17/01/2009 23:33:16
The Lord Lyon, King of Arms, has declared that no flag in Scotland takes precedence over the Saltire. Unionists, get used to that and get to the use we have a Scottish Parliament, voted for by the people of Scotland. The debating chamber is a rather drab affair and having our national flag displayed would underline the fact it is the SCOTTISH parliament. I wonder how difficult it would be and how many of the above would complain if it was a Union Flag which was mooted?
34

democracy,

Scottish Borders 17/01/2009 23:34:45
Grahamski,Falkirk is simply yet another stupid Unionist that thinks the Scottish national flag belongs to the SNP. The Saltire no more belongs to the SNP than the George cross does!
What is so uncultural about a countries national flag?

Me thinks you have just learned about the word philistine, you have used it often enough you mormon!!
(I'm a terible speler eh!)
35

COLINTON.MAINS,

Oakville Ontario 17/01/2009 23:48:46
the.uniquie.and.reconisable.architecture.should.be.demoed.it.is.one.off.the.ugliest.biuldings,in.the.world
36

COLINTON.MAINS,

Oakville Ontario 17/01/2009 23:52:34
it.looks.like.a.big.circus.tent,on.camera.
37

,

18/01/2009 17:02:57
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
38

lulach mac gille coemgain,

19/01/2009 01:59:48
I think the Jolly Roger should be hoist masel - after all it’s design was believed to have risen from Scotlands Gravestones anyway - but perhaps it’s a flag of too much honour and honesty to be flown amongst a den of blaggards n scallywags!
39

skamandrew,

eastlothian 19/01/2009 06:49:27
I would think which i hard for me that puting the flag there would remind all the parliament that they are working for the scottish people and not their own pockets just my opinon though.
40

Tweedmouth,

Coldstream 08/02/2009 09:20:31
#35 "The Lord Lyon, King of Arms, has declared that no flag in Scotland takes precedence over the Saltire."

Nice to see you taking refuge in a truly Mediaeval world view - sort of Braveheart revisited eh? Who elected 'the Lord Lyon' and who is he? What's the betting he's an upper class twit who wouldn't allow you to set foot in his chambers unless you had Norman ancestry?

The Officers of Arms in Scotland are:

* W. David H. Sellar, Lord Lyon King of Arms
* John A. Spens, MVO, RD, WS, Albany Herald of Arms
* Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, Baronet, QC, Rothesay Herald of Arms
* Charles J. Burnett, Ross Herald of Arms
* Elizabeth A. Roads, MVO, Carrick Pursuivant of Arms
* The Hon. Adam Bruce, WS, Unicorn Pursuivant of Arms
* Sir Malcolm Innes of Edingight, KCVO, WS, Orkney Herald Extraordinary
* Robin O. Blair, CVO, Angus Herald Extraordinary
* Alastair Campbell of Airds, Islay Herald Extraordinary
* George A. Way of Plean, SSC, Procurator Fiscal to Lyon Court
* Yvonne Holton, Herald Painter
41

daveserviceman,

edinburgh 08/02/2009 12:40:23
I do not know why people get excited over a flag after all it is only a piece of coloured rag, and I do not need one to proved I am scottish. the idea of wrapping oneself around a flag is a sign of insecurity

 

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