The Thistle of Scotland

In the special language of heraldry, Scotland's national badge is "the thistle, slipped and leaved proper". This means that the thistle is face-on, with its spines and leaves.

Why a thistle ? It is said that early in the 11th century a raiding party of Danes attacked a Scottish castle. They came by night and took off their shoes to be as quiet as possible. Reaching the castle moat, they jumped in to swim across. To their surprise, the moat held not water but thistles. Their shouts of pain awoke the defenders of the castle, and the Danes fled.

Despite this ancient tale, the thistle is not as old a sign as the saltire and the lion. The first time a thistle was used as the special emblem of Scotland was in the time of King James III, in the 15th Century. By then the saltire had already been in use for more than 500 years.

The thistle is not a useful plant, but it is tough and prickly, something you cannot simply grasp hold of and pull out of the ground like a common weed. It was this prickliness that the Scottish Heralds liked. In this way it was like the lion with its claws out, and it fitted Scotland's proud motto "Nemo me impune lacessit".

The thistle became a popular badge in Scotland. While the lion was grand and the saltire hallowed by long tradition, the homely thistle was something everyone could identify with. To the Scots it was a reminder that their country might not be the most rich or fertile but, equally, it was not to be grasped lightly.