St Andrew is one of the oldest, most venerated saints in the world - and his influence extends far beyond the borders of Scotland. This November 30th, celebrations from our patron saint will be taking place as far apart as Moscow and Manitoba...

St Andrew – widely regarded asbeing the first of the 12 apostles – was the elder brother of St Peter.Both were fishermen, hence Christ's pledge to make them both 'fishersof men' and Andrew would become one of the apostles most closelyassociated with personal evangelism. As a consequence he was to travelwidely from his birthplace at Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, in theprocess becoming one of the world's best-known saints.

Histravels took him into Asia Minor and along the Black Sea as far as theVolga and Kiev – becoming patron saint of Russia and Romania in theprocess – until they ended at Patras in Greece, where he was martyredin AD70. He was said to have won over many followers and his popularitycaused him to be feared by the local Roman governor who ordered him tobe crucified. According to legend St Andrew requested to be crucifiedon an 'X' shaped cross because he deemed himself unworthy of beingcrucified on the same type of cross as Christ. Consequently theX-shaped cross – or saltire – came to be associated with St Andrew andsubsequently Scotland.

After his death, St Andrew's legend beganto grow exponentially. He became patron saint of Patras, where todaythe splendid St Andrew's Basilica stands upon what is said to be thesite of his martyrdom. Romania and Russia followed suit, also adoptinghim as their patron saint, as did Luga (one of the Maltese islands),perhaps in recognition of the fact that fishing was one of the keyindustries on the island. The first chapel dedicated to St Andrew onMalta dates back as far as 1497. St Andrew also became patron saint ofAmalfi, where his relics were enshrined in the early 1300's until, twocenturies or so later, his skull was brought to Rome, where it becamean integral part of the Vatican after it was enshrined in one of thefour central piers of St Peter's, his brother's, basilica.

Threehundred years after his death, the Roman Emperor Constantine orderedhis bones to be moved to the city named after him – Constantinople.However, according to legend, St Regulus, a Greek monk, was warned ofthe emperor's intent by an angel who appeared to him in a vision. Theangel instructed him to take St Andrew's remains 'to the ends of theearth.'

Well, to a Greek in the fourth century, Scotland mightwell have qualified as the end of the earth! Shipwrecked off the Fifecoast Regulus eventually made his way to Kilrymont, where some of StAndrew's remains (a tooth, a kneecap, an arm bone and some fingers)found their resting place. The town is now, of course, known to theworld as St Andrews – the home of golf.

The saltire's intimateconnection with Scotland is generally believed to date back to thebattle of Athelstaneford, fought in the 8th century near Markle in EastLothian. The battle was between the Picts and Scots, led by KingHungus, on one side and the Angles of Northumbria on the other. Beforethe battle King Hungus prayed to the saints for victory and, thatnight, St Andrew appeared to him in a vision and promised the Scots andPicts victory. The next day, when battle commenced, the vision of awhite saltire in the blue sky was seen in the skies above thebattlefield! This roused Hungus' armies to victory and ensured theadoption of the St Andrew's Cross as Scotland's national banner –making it the oldest continually used sovereign flag in the world.

Itis perhaps no coincidence that Scotland and Russia share a patronsaint, as there has long been an affinity between the two nations. Manyof the Scots Diaspora migrated to Russia and were to have a greatinfluence on its military development. Peter the Great's principalmilitary advisor was General Patrick Gordon from Aberdeenshire andduring the course of the seventeenth century no fewer than fifteenRussian generals would be of Scottish provenance.

The RussianNavy was founded by a Scotsman, Admiral Samuel Greig, and – slightlymodified to feature a blue cross on a white background – the saltirewas duly adopted as the official ensign for the Imperial Russian Navyup until the revolution of 1917. Following the collapse of the SovietUnion in 1991 the flag – known as the Andreyevsky (or Andrew's) Ensign– was re-adopted and once again flies proudly on all Russian ships.

ButScotland's flag not only inspired Russia's navy – variations on the St.Andrews Cross have been adopted all around the world. . .

It hasbeen the national flag of Tenerife (albeit with a slightly differentshade of blue to Scotland) since 1845, ratified by law in the 1980's.

TodayNova Scotia is a Canadian dominion, but it was once a Scottish provinceand it still flies what might well be the most Scottish flag in theworld: A reverse saltire (a blue cross on a white background) whichsurrounds a bold red and yellow lion rampant; two Scottish symbols forthe price of one!

When another small, fiercely proud nation wasgranted her independence she also chose the saltire as her nationalflag. Of course in Jamaica's case the colours were green (foragricultural richness), gold (for sunlight) and black for the strengthand creativity of the Jamaican people.

But why have so manynations been keen to identify themselves with such a powerful piece ofScottish iconography? It perhaps has less to do with the fact that theSt Andrew's Cross is a simple, striking icon as the fact that it hascome to represent certain elements of what the world – whether it bethe Russian Navy or the Jamaican people – recognise as Scottishness:pride, determination in the face of adversity, creativity, joyousnessand exuberance (from The Edinburgh Festival to Burns Night to Hogmanay,no one celebrates quite like the Scots) and a rugged sense ofindependence.

For a country of less than six million people,historically Scotland has always punched well above its weight,producing an incredible number of innovators in the fields of science,medicine, engineering and the arts. For centuries now, from Braveheartand the legend of William Wallace, to the fiercely humanitarian poetryof Robert Burns, Scotland's history and mythology has proved a blazingsource of inspiration for other small nations. An English engineertravelling through Russia in the early nineteenth century observed that'to come from the north side of the River Tweed is the bestrecommendation a man can bring to this country!' (Some would argue thatthis still holds true in many countries around the world!)

Makeno mistake, this November, St Andrew – and the whole notion ofScottishness that he has come to represent – will be celebrated faroutside the nation where some of his bones finally came to rest. . .

Courtesy of Scotland.org