St Andrew

There are a number of statues of this saint around Edinburgh (as you might expect), all of them way above the sightline of anyone who might actually see and enjoy them. This is one of my favourites and stands above the Freemasons Hall in George Street.

The story of how the saltire came to be the flag of Scotland is a well known one, in the 9th century, the Pictish king Ungus (variously spelt) was promised victory by St Andrew (who appeared to him in a vision) over the Angles. The next day the saltire appeared in the sky over the battlefield and Ungus won the battle. The place is now called Athelstaneford after the defeated king, Athelstane, was killed at a river crossing.

Great story, sadly a number of problems with it. Firstly there is no evidence that Andrew was put to death on a saltire as is popularly supposed. Secondly it wasn't until way after the time of Ungus that any representation of Andrew with an X shaped cross can be found-12th century at the earliest. However, the cross does make Andrew an instantly recognisable figure whenever you see him and the saltire does make for a very simple yet attractive national flag. Although I could be biased on that one.