I've got to agree with Mick there. Flower of Scotland is meaningful and melodic, something alot of national anthems lack. For instance, the incredibly boring "Oh Canada". I'm Canadian and to this day still wonder what the heck brought that about. I've heard that back in the '60's (Trudeau era) some twit decided that the song "The Maple Leaf Forever" wasn't properly representing the different cultures in Canada and thus it needed to be changed. Okay, so the French weren't mentioned, but at least it had some history and a good tune. Now we're stuck with the most tedious national anthem in the world, which it seems as though most Canadians don't even know the words! I definately think Scotland needs her own anthem. The old "God Save the Queen" is second only to "Oh Canada" in the extremely boring national anthems category. If Scotland didn't want to go with "Flower of Scotland", another great possibility would be "Scotland the Brave (Scotland Forever)". No, not the really common one that talks about pipers and all that. The one that starts off "Let Italy boast of her gay, gilded waters, her vines and her bowers and her soft sunny skies; her sons drinking love from the eyes of her daughters while freedom is lost amidst softness and sighs...." (I'm not sure if those lyrics are here on the mudcat). And as for keeping a national anthem pretty and un-bloody, that's so PC. Personally I want an anthem that has a history, that makes me feel proud of being a Canadian. (The lines "true, north, strong and free" in my national anthem make me laugh. I think the only correct word there is "north"!) There's nothing wrong with having pride in ones country but in order to have pride in your country, there's got to be something to encourage it. Whether it's the actual words of the national anthem or the music. (I don't speak Russian, but gosh I love the music of their anthem). So what if you think your country's the best in the world. That's your opinion. Who cares if others don't agree with you? Nowadays though nobody wants to express their opinion because it might offend somebody. So what? It's only an OPINION! That doesn't make it right or wrong! I know I got a bit off the topic there, but it just sort of slipped out. As a "transplanted" Scot, I couldn't help but do a bit of ranting regarding this.