Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Chris Cromar: Do away with St Andrew’s Day and unite Scotland with new national celebration

Yet again, St Andrew's Day will pass by unnoticed by many Scots this year. Isn't it time to shake things up?

Pipers in New York City.
Pipers perform in the annual Tartan Day Parade along Sixth Avenue on April 15, 2023 in New York City. Image: Andrew Schwartz/SIPA/Shutterstock.

Thursday is Scotland’s national day – not that you would notice across most of the country.

St Andrew’s Day goes unnoticed by most people each November 30, unlike St Patrick’s Day, which is celebrated not just in Ireland but the world over on March 17.

For years, I have looked on with envy as other countries celebrate their national day with pride and a public holiday.

Even though St Andrew’s Day was officially made a bank holiday by the Scottish parliament in 2006, banks are not required to close and most people will be working as normal.

Across the north and north-east’s eight council areas, none have a day off for schools to celebrate this year, despite some having in-service days earlier this month.

In the British Isles, Scotland’s national day falls at the worst time, one day before December and 25 days ahead of Christmas.

England’s St George’s Day (April 23), Wales’s St David’s Day (March 1) and Ireland all have better timings – and weather – for their national celebrations. However, Finland’s Independence Day takes place on December 6, so maybe weather and proximity to other festivities is not a valid argument for not celebrating.

Should St Andrew’s Day be a national holiday?

For years, I have felt like a lone wolf trying to celebrate St Andrew’s Day, but it does not feel like a “national day” when hardly anyone else marks it.

I am encouraged by several initiatives, though, including some official events taking place, the flying of the Scottish flag (the St Andrew’s Cross or saltire) at 10 Downing Street, and the Google Doodle.

Is it time that Scotland moved away from having St Andrew’s Day as its national day altogether, especially as Andrew the Apostle is also the patron saint of Cyprus, Romania, Russia and Ukraine? As well as this, Barbados celebrates its independence day on November 30.

The Scotland flag flies from10 Downing Street on November 30, 2020.
The Scotland flag flies from 10 Downing Street on St Andrew’s Day in 2020. Image: UK Prime Minister.

Some may ask why Scotland should have a national holiday at all, since it is not a sovereign state, and we already have big celebrations for Burns Night and Hogmanay.

Regardless of Scotland’s constitutional status and whether you identify as a nationalist, unionist or indifferent, I think we Scots can all agree that Scotland is a proud nation with a distinct culture and achievements to celebrate.

As Sir Winston Churchill said: “Of all the small nations of this earth, perhaps only the ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind.”

National symbols belong to all Scots, regardless of politics

I believe that too many things in Scotland are seen through the constitutional prism – something we need to move away from – and we should remember that our national symbols (including the saltire flag) belong to all Scots, regardless of politics.

Back in 2009, then Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy said the Labour Party had let the SNP “monopolise” the saltire. It would be great if the pro-union parties “reclaimed” it.

In 2015, I unsuccessfully tried to get the Scottish parliament to officially recognise Flower of Scotland as Scotland’s national anthem, which I did to try and unite the country after the divisive independence referendum.

And uniting the country is the motivation behind my proposal that April 6 becomes this country’s new national celebration, Scotland Day.

On April 6 1320, the Declaration of Arbroath was signed, and is an important part of Scotland’s history, as well as being widely credited for inspiring the United States’ famous constitution.

People standing waving Scotland flags.
Some feel the saltire flag has been ‘monopolised’ by the SNP and Scottish independence movement. Image: Andrew Schwartz/SIPA/Shutterstock.

As someone who supports Scotland’s place in the UK and has no time for the “anyone but England” mentality, I see no need to be scared of this date. All I can see are benefits (socially and economically), and a boost internationally, especially as April 6 is already Tartan Day in North America, with Tartan Week taking place annually in New York City.

I have been lucky enough to visit different parts of the world, and Scots are loved across the globe, something which we should learn to celebrate and embrace.

If the Eiffel Tower and Sydney Opera House can be lit up in green for St Patrick’s Day, what is stopping Scotland’s national day having the same effect?

Or maybe Jim Sillars was right – perhaps we are a nation of “90-minute patriots”.


Chris Cromar is a live news journalist for The Press and Journal

Conversation