As of February 2024, the Scottish Government have not yet formally adopted an official national anthem of Scotland, despite having the legal competence in order to do so. ] During a meeting of the Enterprise and Culture Committee on 9 May 2006 in the Scottish Parliament, MSP Michael Matheson raised the question about the status of Scotland's national anthem, citing "during the recent Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, there was some debate about a Scottish national anthem, largely because a number of songs were being used as our national anthem. However, in recent discussions on the matter, no consensus was reached, other than on the point that we should have a national anthem". At that time, there was suggestions that the incumbent First Minister of Scotland Jack McConnell had claimed that a debate on an official national anthem for Scotland should take place to address the issue.

MSP Murdo Fraser expressed concerns over the three most popular candidates for an official national anthem of Scotland – "Flower of Scotland", "Scotland the Brave" and "Highland Cathedral". In his speech to the committee, he claimed "Flower of Scotland is inappropriate because some of the sentiments that are expressed in it are jingoistic and anti-English; Scotland the Brave is inappropriate because, although it is a good tune, it does not have words that match the upbeat nature of the music; and Highland Cathedral is a good tune, but it has no words at all".