The thistle is a national symbol in Scotland. It may seem a bit odd, especially to farmers, that the thistle would be a country’s national symbol. However, when one knows the story associated with the thistle in Scotland, it is very understandable. The story goes something like this. One evening long ago, the Scottish army was encamped and settled down for the night. At the same time, an invading army was silently moving into position to slaughter the unaware Scots (the nationality of the invading army is in some doubt so I’ll just refer to them as an invading army). Fortunately for the Scots, the invading army stepped on thistles and cried out in pain. Naturally, this alerted the Scots and they were ready when the attack came and were victorious. Thus, the thistle became the national symbol of Scotland.
