Scotland
"Flower of Scotland"

Words by: Roy Williamson
Music by: Roy Williamson
In use since: 1990

A constituent nation of the United Kingdom, Scotland lacks an official, legislated "national song"; in fact there are several songs in use as "national songs" of Scotland. The one most often considered as the unofficial national anthem (and most often presented as Scotland's anthem at sporting matches) is "Flower of Scotland", written by Roy Williamson for the popular folk group The Corries. This was first used as a Scottish "national anthem" in 1990 in response to an unexpected victory over the English team. This anthem, however, has not been adopted in any official basis as the Scottish anthem.

Other popular "national songs" of Scotland (and sometimes used as "unofficial national anthems") are "Scotland the Brave" (a traditional melody (sheet music) with lyrics by Cliff Hanley) and "Scots Wha' Hae" (another traditional melody with words by the national poet Robert Burns). However, another "national song" was used at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1997, one which usually isn't presented as an unofficial national anthem, the Robert Burns poem "A Man's A Man for A' That", set to a traditional melody. The choice of this song may have been to duck the controversy of choosing one of the previously mentioned "national songs" as an official regional anthem, or by using "God Save the Queen" (the anthem of the United Kingdom) .

Special thanks to: Calum Wyllie and Eugenio Pedro for some of this information.

See also: United Kingdom.