[8] This emblem occupied the shield of the royal coat of arms of the ancient Kingdom of Scotland which, together with a royal banner displaying the same, was used by the King of Scots until the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI acceded to the thrones of the kingdoms of England and Ireland.

[11] Displaying a red lion rampant, with blue tongue and claws, within a red double border on a yellow background, the design of the Royal Banner of Scotland is formally specified in heraldry as: Or, a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory counter-flory of the second,[12] meaning: A gold (Or) background, whose principal symbol is a red (Gules) upright lion (lion rampant) with blue (Azure) claws and tongue (armed and langued), surrounded by a two-lined border (tressure) decorated with opposing pairs of floral symbols (flory counter-flory) of the second colour specified in the blazon (Gules).

[19] The personal banner of Charles III, prior to his accession to the throne, also featured the same, displayed upon an inner shield.

[6][21] In 1978, a St Albans linen merchant, Denis Pamphilon, was fined £100 daily for usurpation of the banner on decorative bedspreads until he desisted, and both Rangers F.C.

[22] Despite such action, the flag continues to feature on a variety of merchandise and souvenirs produced commercially for Scotland's economically important tourism industry.

However, such use was restricted to hand-held flags for "decorative ebullition" as a mark of loyalty to the Monarch; the banner was not to be flown from flagpoles or public buildings.

[25][26] The use of hand-held flags at state occasions, such as the opening of the Scottish Parliament,[27] and at sporting events,[28] continues to be authorised by this Royal Warrant although according to former Lord Lyon Robin Blair in an interview given to the Sunday Post in November 2007, such use at sporting events "was not envisaged in 1935".