Ditch Flower of Scotland?

[Zardoz]

Sectarian singing laws

[McClef]

England does have an anthem - Land of Hope and Glory - this is often played when England is playing on its own or has a team such as at the Commonwealth Games.

God Save the Queen is a UK thing and the only official one as things currently stand.

In Wales we have Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and Scotland's current favourite is Flower of Scotland. It replaced Scotland the Brave which was the previous one.

Often it is only the first verses of any of them are sung.

[Peter Crowe]

England does have an anthem - Land of Hope and Glory - this is often played when England is playing on its own or has a team such as at the Commonwealth Games.

God Save the Queen is a UK thing and the only official one as things currently stand.

In Wales we have Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and Scotland's current favourite is Flower of Scotland. It replaced Scotland the Brave which was the previous one.

Often it is only the first verses of any of them are sung.

God Save the Queen (King) status isn't quite official (as in defined by law). The UK doesn't officially have a national flag on land or a national anthem on that same basis, although the Union Flag, legally defined as the Queen's (King's) Colour and God Save the Queen (King) are customarily recognized as the de facto national or state flag (land) and anthem. We do have three (actually more if you count jacks and defaced ensigns issued by Admiralty warrant) legally defined official ensigns for use at sea.

As to the anthems used at sporting occasions these have been decided by small and unrepresentative groups. England has many fine songs that would serve as an anthem, although I associate Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory with the wider British Empire in the first half of the 20th century. I would suggest Blake's Jerusalem would be a better choice for England but 'I don't have a dog in that fight' either.

Wales' Land of my Fathers would be unassailable IMO.

I have participated in many discussions relating to a Scots anthem, and while I quite like the Corries folk-singing, I don't think Flower of Scotland works on various levels. When I was younger, I thought Burns's Robert Bruce's March to Bannockburn (Scots Wha Hae) would have been a good choice, but on mature reflection came to believe that his Is There For Honest Poverty (A Man's a Man for a' That) was better as it speaks about the best values of Scottish society rather than national chauvinism.