Beast of Kings

Question: What country chose the unicorn—a make-believe creature—to be its real national animal?

Answer: Scotland

When the royal coat of arms of Scotland was instituted in the twelfth century, a pair of crowned unicorns reared up to flank the crest. By the 15th century, unicorns appeared on gold coins. The nation’s oldest warship is the HMS Unicorn and Stirling Castle’s most hallowed tapestry depicts a unicorn hunt. Statues of the beasts top crosses in city centers and their likenesses grace the halls of the some of the most esteemed academic and political institutions. (See more below.) Clearly, the Scots love their unicorns.

But why? Though the creature itself was mythological, Celtic tradition attributed to the beast two different qualities that Scots highly valued: power and purity. The two things are twined together in the notion that a wild unicorn was the strongest of all animals and could only be tamed by a maiden of supreme innocence. Metaphorically, the idea was that a Scottish king was so righteous and pure that he could entrap and defeat even his most powerful foes. That explains why the unicorns depicted on the coat of arms are bound by golden chains; their power has been harnessed by the state.

The Scots were not the first to make such associations. Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Jewish culture all celebrated the magical creatures long before Scotland got there. But no other nation drew the enduring sense of identity from the beast that Scotland did. Even when the nation united with England, instead of changing the entire coat of arms, Scotland simply swapped in one lion (a British symbol and the unicorn’s mythological enemy) but kept its cherished unicorn on the left, so that it is seen first.

Though times have changed, Scotland’s love affair with unicorns has not. Formally, the nation continues to employ a "Unicorn Pursuivant," a royal officer who handles matters regarding official heraldry and state ceremonies. More whimsical is the annual celebration of April 9 as National Unicorn Day. For one day, revelers apply glitter and rainbows to everything—foods, make-up, hair dye, clothing, decorations, and more—bringing a little magic to the real world.

• At Holyroodhouse, official residence of Her Majesty The Queen in Scotland, the unicorn relief is kept freshly painted in white and gold, with pops of blue representing the national flower, the thistle.


• An all-gold unicorn kicks up a fuss on the wooden gatehouse door at the Queen’s Gallery in Edinburgh.


• At the National War Memorial, a unicorn rests, its horn slicked back like a mane, in a sculpture by a young woman who went on to become the first female member of the Royal Scottish academy.


• On the Queen’s Chair in the Thistle Chapel at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, the detailed wood carving shows the unicorn scowling at the lion, whose attention seems to be focused on visitors.


• Edinburgh’s International Exhibition of 1886 greeted visitors to The Meadows (a sprawling park) with pairs of unicorns atop pillars; more than a century later, they still stand.


• Glasgow’s Springburn Park features a terra cotta unicorn with a bronze horn, built for a fountain in 1912; the fountain was dismantled in 1970 but no one could bear to lose the unicorn.


• At St. Andrews University, multiple pairs of rearing unicorns may be found in facades and flanking doorways, and some students pose with them after completing their final theses.


• Traditional market squares from Edinburgh to Glasgow are marked with "mercat" crosses topped with unicorns resembling the ones on the coat of arms.


• The most recent addition to high-profile unicorns is the bronze unicorn of Inverness, set atop a sandstone pillar that is adorned by swirling bronze falcons.


• Rest your feet and raise a glass to unicorns at Shilling Brewing Company, which boasts a trompe l’oeil beast that seems to be charging off the wall at guests.

Go unicorn-spotting yourself when you join our New! Scotland Revealed: Legends, Lochs & Highland Landscapes adventure.