What is the national animal of Scotland?

A unicorn on the Royal Scottish coat of arms

Because of the links between Scotland and the unicorn, the unicorn quickly became an important symbol in Scottish heraldry.

From about the mid-16th century onwards, the royal coat of arms of Scotland* began to include two unicorns.

*By the way, just in case you’re not familiar with the term“A coat of arms,” as he put it Cambridge DictionaryHe is:

“A design, usually in the shape of a shield (with straight sides and a rounded or pointed bottom edge) that is a symbol of a family, university, city, or company, [or, in this case, country]”.

But in 1603, the Scottish royal coat of arms changed again.

In 1603, the union of the crowns took place (This is the time when England and Scotland began to have a common king-Who was King James-Instead of separate kings). When this happened, the coat of arms was changed…

…The English two-lion design is combined with the Scottish two-horned design…

…to make a coat of arms with a lion on one side and a unicorn on the other.

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It remains to this day the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom It features a single lion and a unicorn, just as King James intended all those years ago. The version containing the unicorn is no longer the Scottish national emblem.

On this current royal coat (And on any other logo the Scottish unicorn appears), a rhinoceros is depicted with golden chains wrapped around its neck and body. No one knows exactly why… but most believe that these chains symbolize how the Scottish kings were able to tame one of the most untamable beasts in the world.

Fun fact: Although the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom is displayed in both England and Scotland, it is displayed slightly differently in the two places. In the Scottish version, the unicorn stands on the left. But in the English version he stands on the right. controversial.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, some Scottish coins featured the shape of a unicorn – and according to some sources, two of these gold coins were known literally as “unicorns” and “half-unicorns”. Yes, Scotland really loves unicorns.