Scotland at the World Cup: “Flower of Scotland” – anthem ritual explained

Scotland’s unofficial anthem

Why the bagpipes fall silent in the second verse

When the Scots play against Morocco in their second World Cup game this evening, the fans will have goosebumps again. It’s about a ritual.

Who the Scottish national team at the Football World Cup or a big international match, knows the special moment: thousands of fans sing the unofficial national anthem “Flower of Scotland” accompanied by bagpipes. But in the middle of the song, the instruments suddenly fall silent. The second verse is then performed solely by the supporters in the stadium – loud, emotional and without musical accompaniment.

Many consider this to be a deliberately planned tradition. In fact, the custom dates back to a misunderstanding during an international rugby match against France in 2008.

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At the time, Julie Beels was a 21-year-old freelance event producer working at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. At a pre-game sound check, the bagpipe band asked whether they should play “Flower of Scotland” once or twice. Beels replied that once was enough. The young woman had assumed that the question was simply about the test, she told the BBC many years later.

“It’s funny to look back on it now. At the time, I thought I was going to lose my job,” she remembers. Shortly before the start of the game there was a misunderstanding. The bagpipers stopped playing after the first verse. “My heart sank,” said Beels. “I stood in front of 67,000 people and thought: That’s it. Now I’m done.” But instead of reacting irritably, the audience simply continued singing. And louder and louder.

The spontaneous reaction of the audience quickly became a permanent tradition. The silencing of the bagpipes at Scottish sporting events is now an integral part of the ritual. Even at international football matches and major tournaments such as European or World Cups, many fans wait for the moment when the bagpipes fall silent and they can take over.

“Flower of Scotland” itself is significantly younger than many people assume. Although the melody sounds like a centuries-old folk song, the song was only written in the 1960s. The author was Roy Williamson from the Scottish folk band “The Corries”. He first presented the piece on a BBC program in 1967. Williamson deliberately composed the melody so that it could also be played on traditional Scottish instruments such as the bagpipes. Rugby supporters have been singing the folk song since 1990, and football fans adopted the song three years later.