The Auld Alliance: Scotland’s Old Friendship in a Changing World
There are few friendships in Europe that have lasted as long—or as fondly—as the one between Scotland and France. This week, with the Saltire and the Tricolour flying side by side, we’re reminded that some partnerships endure long after the battles that first forged them.
The Auld Alliance was born in 1295, some say on the 23 October, when Scotland and France agreed that standing together was the best defence against a shared threat from England. It was a pact of mutual protection, made in a time when survival depended on allies who would actually turn up when needed.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
Over the centuries, soldiers, scholars, and merchants moved between our shores, and something deeper than strategy began to take root.
The French kings even had a personal bodyguard made up of Scottish soldiers.
For the Scots it gave them a strong continental partner, and broaden the battle with an old foe. But it developed and built over time.
When de Gaulle Came to Edinburgh
And while there are some writers that will point to the end of the alliance at some point in the sixteenth century, it has continued on.
In June 1942, with Europe deep in the turmoil of war, General Charles de Gaulle travelled to Edinburgh to thank Scotland for its support of the Free French forces. Standing in the City Chambers, he evoked the centuries-old friendship between France and Scotland, calling it “the oldest alliance in the world.”
He reminded his hosts that across five centuries, French and Scottish soldiers had fought side by side — and that they were doing so again. His words carried more than ceremony: they were a reminder that solidarity between small nations can outlast empires, wars, and politics.
Edinburgh granted de Gaulle the Freedom of the City that day, sealing a wartime renewal of the Auld Alliance.
Today, his speech still echoes as a quiet testament to that enduring friendship — not bound by treaties, but by shared courage and respect.
The Alliance today
France is still one of Scotland’s most important partners: our biggest market for salmon and a major destination for Scotch whisky. So much of the sea food of Scotland will end up in Paris restaurants.
French companies are helping to power the next chapter of Scotland’s story too, through offshore wind and renewable energy projects along the east coast and beyond.
And in Edinburgh, the French Institute keeps the cultural bond alive with language, film, art, and conversation—a reminder that diplomacy isn’t just about governments; it’s about people.
But the real lesson of the Auld Alliance may not lie in trade or treaties. It lies in the idea that Scotland’s strength has always come through connection. When the world feels uncertain—whether through shifting politics, climate pressures, or the fallout
of Brexit and the pandemic—it’s easy to turn inward.
Yet our history tells us something different: that we’ve always looked outward, finding kinship in unexpected places.
New relationships
Maybe it’s time to reimagine the Auld Alliance for the modern age.
Not just with France, though that relationship will always matter, but with other small, ambitious nations that share our values and challenges—from the small Scandanavian countries to far away New Zealand. Partnerships built not on power, but on purpose: green energy, innovation, culture, and community.
In 2027, when the Tour de France begins in Edinburgh, cyclists will set off from the cobbles of the Old Town and wind their way through a country that once fought alongside France in very different times.
Seven hundred years on, the journey continues—not as a campaign of war, but as a celebration of shared spirit and endurance.
The Auld Alliance began as a pact of survival. Perhaps its modern version is a pact of imagination: a belief that nations, when linked by friendship and creativity, can still shape the world together.