For years, unionists in Scotland have watched as the separatist movement has waged a relentless campaign against the Union Flag and every expression of British identity.
The Saltire, Scotland’s national flag, has been steadily presented by nationalists as the sole symbol of independence, as though it belongs to their cause alone rather than to every Scot.
At the same time, the Union Flag has been pushed to the margins. Under new rules, it can now be flown from government buildings only once a year, on Remembrance Day, down from at least 15 occasions previously.
This hostility has not stopped there. Even England’s flag has become a target. Nationalist politicians objected when Prime Minister Keir Starmer displayed the St George’s Cross at Downing Street during Euro 2024 in support of the England team, an extraordinary attempt to dictate what flag may fly in England itself.
For years, separatists have sought to weaponise flags, silence British symbols, and monopolise Scotland’s identity. Today, more and more Scots are standing up and saying: enough.
At times, the fixation with flags borders on the contradictory. When a National Library of Scotland staff member was told to remove Saltire flags from his desk on the grounds they might “intimidate” non-Scottish workers, SNP MSP Christine Grahame protested, rightly, on that occasion. No national flag should be censored in its own country. Yet the same movement has no hesitation in altering the Saltire to suit rallies and marches, flying distorted versions in rainbow or black-and-red variants — a clear disrespect to the national emblem they claim to revere.
The hostility extends beyond flags to the very institutions of the United Kingdom. At protests, cries of “not my King” are common, while Green and SNP politicians openly campaign for the abolition of the monarchy. Yet many of these same activists wave the Lion Rampant, the Royal Banner, the personal flag of the monarch they denounce. The contradiction could not be clearer.
In response, ordinary Scots have begun to act. The Raise the Colours campaign has encouraged people across the country – unionists, moderates, and those weary of separatist dominance, to fly the Saltire proudly alongside the Union Flag. This simple gesture has provoked outrage from nationalists, who now claim the Saltire has been “hijacked by the far right” or “weaponised.” Their fury only proves the point: they truly believed the Saltire belonged to them alone.
But that illusion has been broken. The Saltire has been reclaimed. It is Scotland’s flag, not a separatist banner. And when it flies beside the Union Flag, it shows what nationalists deny: that Scottish and British identities are not opposites, but part of the same proud heritage.
For years, separatists have sought to weaponise flags, silence British symbols, and monopolise Scotland’s identity. Today, more and more Scots are standing up and saying: enough.
The Saltire belongs to every Scot. And when it is flown with the Union Flag, it declares a simple truth: Scotland does not have to choose. We are both Scottish and British, and stronger for it.
By Peter Morris, Great British PAC Scottish Borders Director.
