What is the significance of the lone piper?

[ScotKat]

By St Andrews Cross do you mean our national Flag???

If you do here is what I remeber from School and hopefully if I get it wrong someone will correct me

Short Version

When St Andrew was being crucified by the Romans he is said to have asked to be placed on cross which had a different shape from that which Jesus was crucified on because he was not worthy to die the same way.

Aprox 300 years after his death the Emperor Constatine decided to remove the saints bones to Constantinople but a monk St Regulus was warned by an angel who told him to take the bones to the ends of the earth ( I guess Scotland was the end of the earth then to a Greek..lol) He landed at Muckros later called Kilrymont and then later renamed St Andrews.

According to legend before a battle between the Picts and the Scots army and the Anglo Saxon King of Northumbria at Athelstaneford in Ear Lothain, King Angus prayed to St Andrew for Help, a formation of white clouds in the from of a cross of St Andrew appeared in the blue sky.

The Northumbrians were defeated and St Andrew became the patron of Scotland and the cross in the sky became our national flat (one of the oldest national flags still being used in Europe )

In battle:

In the 14th centuary it is documented that many Scottish foot soldiers had a white cross on their tunics but it was not until the 15th Centuary that the national flag came into to widespread use. The Whtie Cross is known as the Saltire but nowadays it seems to apply to the whole flag.
I think the Royal Scots still have the flag inside their unifroms

Mmmm now this is I will probably get the dates wrong but I belive it was King James VI of Scotland when he became the king of England in 1603 that origionaly tried to introduce a flag with the English Red Cross which of course caused an uproar and a lot of correspondance lol In 1801 the red Cross of St Patrick was incorporated and the Union Jack was born and all goverment and offical buildings were then required to fly it instead of our national flag

[ScotKat]

Whoops That shows you how slow I type Polwarths post wasn't there when I started typing lol hers is easier to read than mine
I have no sources Its edited out of an old school Jotter in front of me maybe I should say curtesy of Loudon Academy History dept. heehee

[HollyElise]

Thanks guys!!! I never even knew it was referred to as the Saltire!