There is something deeply Scottish about adopting a fictional animal as our official national symbol. Yes, that’s right. While England brings its mighty lion to the royal coat of arms, Scotland brings our, er, unicorn to the party. But how on earth did our national animal come to be the unicorn?
In many countries the unicorn is just a fictional creature that swishes through cartoons and children’s books. Not in Scotland. And we’re not alone. Unicorns were said to have been celebrated by the ancient Babylonians and the Indus Valley Civilisation.
For centuries, many people believed that this brilliant white horse with its spiked horn really existed, and the association of Scotland with unicorns swirls back deep into the mists of our pagan past.
In Celtic culture, the horse with…
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Scotland (Digital) - 1 Issue, March - April 2025