I read with interest David Williamson’s letter in the Courier dated February 12 ‘Saltire has to remain flying at Town House’.

May I add my support to the sentiments he expressed – that the Saltire is the appropriate flag to be permanently flown at one of the two flagpoles on the Town House, Dunbar.

This surely is rooted in our historic past.

At the risk of sounding pedantic, when Dunbar was elevated to a Royal or King’s Burgh by David II on February 8, 1369-70, it would have been incumbent, not to say PC, to fly the monarch’s flag, which at that time was the Lion Rampant.

That flag would have been flown until James VI became James I and VI of Britain in 1603, after which it would have been disrespectful not to have flown the standard created by James himself, ie, the Union Flag.

However, with the abolition of Royal Burghs nearly 40 years ago in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, there was no longer any reason for permanently flying the Union Flag in Dunbar.

However, Lord Lyon, King of Arms, permitted the armorial bearings (coat of arms) of a number of former Royal Burghs to be rematriculated (re-registered) by the new community councils. Dunbar’s was first matriculated in 1943!

I have no idea if Dunbar Community Council (DCC) was among those who took the trouble and expense to do this; however, Lord Lyon ruled that the term Royal Burgh could be incorporated in a town’s title as a gesture to historic precedent established in royal charters.

That being so, it is in no way incumbent on DCC to fly the Union Flag permanently, although it would be disrespectful to the reigning monarch not to fly it on the half dozen or so days specified, eg, the Queen’s official and actual birthdays, Commonwealth Day and so forth.

Councillor Norman Hampshire should get his facts right.

In my view, the only flags which should be flown permanently are the town’s coat of arms and the Saltire.

On the aforementioned ‘specified’ days when it is proper to fly the Union Flag, it would replace the Saltire – but only then.

Broadcaster and expert on John Muir Cameron McNeish got it right when he censured Dunbar for flying the Stars and Stripes and the Union Flag on the centenary of John Muir’s death on December 24, 2014. This was blatantly political; Muir was Scottish born and so should have been honoured by the Saltire.

May I remind Councillor Hampshire and the other minorities of his persuasion that the Saltire is in no sense a political flag. It is Scotland’s national flag and has been since the ninth century; the Union or monarch’s flag dates back to the 17th century and was usually only flown on British ships at sea, then carried by military regiments alongside their own regimental flag.

Dunbar Community Council was created to serve the community (the people). DCC should put the question of flag-flying to the vote of those they have been elected to represent, not to endorse the whims of a single, albeit elected, councillor in East Lothian Council.

The main principle of democracy is that the views of the majority should be respected and adopted – including the results of national referenda!

RJM Pugh Castle Street Dunbar