during the Crusades the saint's apparition rescued the English from the fury of their Moslem foes. His sudden appearance on the battlefield threw the Mohammedans into confusion and fight. Thus the English recognized and acknowledged him as their patron. King Edward m adopted his name as a battle cry， and his emblem became the English flag.
St. Andrew was one of the 12 apostles. A simple fisherman， he， too， suffered martyrdom. The story is toat that because he had converted a Roman Consul's wife to Christianity， her husband had him flogged and afterwards crucified. The cross-used for the execution was shaped like the letter X， which explains how this became the saint's symbol and is still called St Andrew's cross.
His association with Scotland dates back to the tradition that in 368 A. D. a monk transferred some of his relics from Constantinople to Scotland， to be buried there on the east coast， on the very spot where the city and cathedral of St. Andrew's now stand.
The story is further told that when the Saxons attacked the Picts and Scots， they called on St. Andrew for help. Looking upward， they noticed a strange formation of clouds. It seemed as if their white vapor had formed itself into the shape of a cross， backed by the blue sky. This appeared to the anxious watchers as an assurance of victory and a manifestation of the saint. Spurred on， they joined in battle and defeated the foe. After their victory， they adopted St. Andrew's cross as their emblem， with the specific colors of cloud and sky. It was the birth of the Scottish flag.
When James Stuart came from Scotland in 1603 to ascend the English throne as James I， the two kingdoms were united. The immediate problem was which flag to hoist on the king's' ships. English sailors resented the Scottish colors and the Scots scorned the cross of St. George.
A compromise was the answer and it led to the creation of the first Union Flag. In 1606， a royal decree declared that the ships of the Kingdom of Great Britain "shall bear on their maintops the red cross， commonly called St. George's cross， and the white cross， commonly called St. Andrew's cross". In 1707， after the Act of Union of England an，d Scotlan，d， Queen Anne sanctioned this combination.
……
展开
