Download the Print-ready PDF of The Saltire by clicking here.
Download the jpeg file of The Saltire by clicking here.
This is a poem I wrote in September 2025 in response to far-right activists trying to hijack Scotland’s flag, known as the Saltire, for their cause and use to intimidate others. It was written to highlight that for most Scots, and most people around the world, the Saltire has a very different meaning to the one they were trying to give it, and to show that as a nation we need to fight to ensure that it doesn’t become a symbol of bigotry, intimidation, and even fascism. It was first displayed as a piece of street art on a disused shop front on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow shortly after it was written.
However, I have also added to lamp posts where far-right activitsts have attached saltires in an attempt to re-write their narrative and re-claim the flag for all the people of Scotland, and not just a small, extreme minority.
The Saltire is provided here under a Creative Commons license, This means that you are free to post it, share it, and use it as and when you see fit (even for commercial purposes). The only limitation is that you cannot alter the original wording without permission. On this page, you can download a PDF containing print-ready versions of it at three different sizes (A4, A5 and A6). You can also download a jpeg image of it here as well.
Download the Print-ready PDF by clicking here.
Download the jpeg file by clicking here.
It is also provided below as plain text:
The Saltire
We are Scotland, and this is our flag.
It stands for love, and not hate,
It stands for compassion, and not cruelty,
It stands for tolerance and not bigotry,
Fairness not fear, understanding not ignorance,
It stands for equality, not injustice,
Diversity, not division, truth and not lies,
Most of all, it stands for friendliness and not for fascism,
We are Scotland and this is OUR flag, and
we will fight to preserve everything it stands for.