St Andrew's Day 2021: The history of St Andrew - Scotland's patron saint

St Andrew has left a lasting influence in Scotland, with his saltire cross featuring on Scotland's national flag and one of their top universities bearing his name.

Here’s all you need to know about St Andrew, who he was and why Scotland celebrates St Andrew's Day.

Saint Andrew is said to have been born in Galilee, Israel between 5 AD and 10 AD and died on November 30, 60AD.

He is the brother of Saint Peter and son of Jonah and grew up in Galilee under the Roman Empire.

Both Andrew and his brother Peter became two of Jesus's twelve disciplines when he called upon them whilst fishing on the Sea of Galilee.

Andrew features heavily in the New Testament and ended up being one of the most important apostles following Jesus.

He was sentenced to death by the Roman Empire and requested to be crucified on a X-shaped diagonal Latin cross instead of a straight cross, to differentiate himself from Jesus.

His story has influenced Scottish society and this is reflected in his saltire cross featuring on Scotland's national flag.

November 30th is apparently the date that St Andrew was crucified by the Romans on a diagonal Latin cross in 60AD.

Saint Andrew is not only the patron saint of Scotland, he is also the patron saint of Ukraine, Romania and Russia.

In the 13th Century his remains were moved to the Amalfi coast in Italy, where most of them still remain today.

However, some bones were moved to Scotland in the 16th century including his tooth, kneecap, arm and finger bones.

While his shoulder blade was given to Scotland by the Archbishop of Amalfi in 1879 and more bones were gifted by Pope Paul VI in 1969.