Region: Lothian & Scottish Borders

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© Copyright kim traynor and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Description:

Near the church in Athelstaneford stands the Flag Heritage Centre, housed in a lectern doo cot, where the story of the battle and the origins of Scotland’s flag, the ‘Saltire’, is told. The audio-visual presentation is impressive, and there’s a viewing point with an interpretative panel. In AD 832, a major battle took place here between an Anglo-Saxon army led by King Athelstan of the Northumbrians and the Pictish king Óengus mac Fergusa, aided by Scots mercenaries from Dál Riata. The Picts and Scots had come to drive the Saxons from the Lothians and restore the land to Scots rule, but soon found themselves surrounded by Athelstan’s larger force. Following tradition, the Scots knelt to pray before the fight, and as they prayed, clouds formed into a great Saltire in the sky. Óengus took this as a divine sign, and his Gaelic-Pictish army charged into battle. The fighting was fierce, but by day’s end, the Saxons were defeated, and Athelstan was killed at a ford while trying to flee, giving the village its name. In victory, Óengus declared St Andrew the Patron Saint of Scotland and adopted the white Saltire on a blue field as the national flag—a symbol that remains to this day as the oldest in Britain and Europe.

The site of the battle is the present day farm of Prora (a field there is still called 'The Bloody Lands'.