Saint Andrew's Day

Saint Andrew's Day
St Andrew
Observed by	Scotland
Type	Bank holiday in Scotland.
Celebrations	Bank holiday.
Date	30 November

St. Andrew's Day is the feast of Saint Andrew, celebrated on 30 November each year. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and St. Andrew's Day is Scotland's official national day, although Burns' Night is more widely observed. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament designated the Day as an official bank holiday.

In Germany it is celebrated as Andreasnacht (German: St Andrew's Night), in Austria with the custom of Andreasgebet (St Andrew's Prayer) and in Poland as Andrzejki.

Scotland

2007 Celebrations

• Edinburgh- 'Jig in the Gardens'. A weekend of events from 30 November - 2 December in West Princes St Gardens, kicking off with a night of musical entertainment and ceilidh-dancing.
• Glasgow- 'Shindig in the Square' at George Square with a ceilidh and traditional live musicians.

In addition, Embassies around the world are planning to celebrate St Andrew's Day with a variety of Scottish themed events.

Bank Holiday

In 2006, the Scottish Parliament passed the St. Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007, which designated the Day as an official bank holiday. If November 30 falls on a weekend, the next Monday is a bank holiday instead.

The notion that the Day should be an official bank holiday was first proposed by Dennis Canavan, Independent Member of the Scottish Parliament for Falkirk West in 2003.. However, the Bill he introduced to the Parliament was initially rejected as the Executive did not support it. A compromise deal was reached whereby the holiday would not be an additional entitlement. The First Minister, Alex Salmond, stated that he believed that employers and employees should mark the day with a holiday, but that this should be as a substitute for an existing local holiday, rather than an additional one..

Although it is a bank holiday, banks are not required to close and employers are not required to give their employees the Day as a holiday.

Flag Day

St Andrew's Day is an official flag day in Scotland. The Scottish Government's flag-flying regulations state that the Flag of Scotland (The Saltire) shall fly on all its buildings with a flagpole. The Union Flag is also flown if the building has more than one flagpole. The arrangements for the United Kingdom Government in Scotland are the opposite. They fly the Union Flag, and will only fly the Saltire if there is more than one flagpole

The flying of the Saltire on St Andrew's Day is a recent development. Prior to 2002, the Scottish Government followed the UK Government's flag days and would only fly the Union Flag on St Andrew's Day. This led to Members of the Scottish Parliament complaing that Scotland was the only country in the world that could not fly its national flag on its national day. The regulations were updated to state that the Saltire would not be removed and replaced by the Union Flag on buildings with only one flagpole.

The flying of the Union Flag from Edinburgh Castle on all days, including St Andrew's Day causes anger among some Scottish National Party politicians, who have argued that the Saltire should fly on November 30 instead. However, the Union Flag is flown by the British Army at the Castle as it still is an official garrison, and all Army installations fly the Union Flag at ratio 3:5.

Germany, Austria and Poland

In parts of Germany, Austria and Poland, superstitious belief exists that the night before St. Andrew's Day is specially suitable for magic that reveals a girl's future husband or that binds a future husband to her. Many such customs exist, for example the pouring of hot lead into water, divining the future husband's profession from the shape of the resulting piece (related divinations using molten metals are still popular in Germany on New Year's Eve). In some areas in Austria, young girls would drink wine and then perform a spell, called Andreasgebet (Saint Andrew's prayer) while nude and kicking a straw bed. This should magically attract the future husband. Yet another custom is to throw a clog over one's shoulder: if it lands pointing to the door, the girl will get married in the same year.

See also

• Tartan Day- celebration of Scotland held in the United States on April 6 annually.
• Burns Night- celebration of the life and works of the poet Robert Burns on January 25.
• Calendar of saints
• Roman Catholic calendar of saints