A SCOTTISH man has proven it’s not just the Tartan Army bringing joy overseas after he was praised by a Canadian town for gifting them a new flag after learning it shares a connection with his hometown.
Stuart Campbell and his family grew up in the South Ayrshire town of Girvan, which is best known for its view looking out towards the uninhabited island, Ailsa Craig, in the outer Firth of Clyde.
The volcanic island is renowned as the source of nearly all the granite used for Olympic curling stones and is a protected sanctuary for a variety of seabird colonies.
Campbell explained that he had moved away from the area, but had returned after his mum passed away, and was looking for ways to remember her and wanted to do something a “little different” in her memory.
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“It's not unusual to find names of towns and cities from the UK in North America, but I've never seen an Ailsa Craig. I just became pretty intrigued by it,” he told The National.
Campbell said that when he realised that the town had adopted a new municipal flag, which features Ailsa Craig as part of its design, in August last year he knew he had to gift them one from Scotland.
He said: “I did a bit of research of the place and I thought that would be a nice little thing to do.”
The 37-year-old then made the trip to North America where he met up with some friends in Toronto before making the three-and-a-half-hour journey to Ontario in 33-degree heat just to hand deliver the flag.
“I wanted to make sure that I could pass it to someone,” he said.
He added: “They asked me to meet at the ye old town hall, as they call it, and they had a little town committee there, so some elected members and some voluntary members.
“They proudly told me the history of their small town, and of course they know about Ailsa Craig in Scotland, their namesake.
“They jokingly asked if I brought them a puffin.
“I certainly did not take them a puffin, but hopefully a flag is something nice.”
Campbell explained the flag had been designed by local schoolchildren and that the town did a small ceremonial flag handover where they plan to raise the flag on one of the town’s flag poles.
The flag features a white background with four wavy stripes of green and white representing the green River Girvan valley and the sea.
Above the flag’s waves stands an image of Ailsa Craig, which the town described as the island that has “long been an important landmark for the people of Girvan”.
Campbell added that with the Tartan Army bringing joy to North America while supporting Scotland, it felt like to him a timely reminder of the positive role Scottish visitors can play as informal ambassadors for the country.
Following his visit the town thanked Campbell for his gesture as they described it as “bringing a little piece of Girvan to Ailsa Craig”.
In a post on social media, a spokesperson for the town wrote: “A thoughtful gesture that beautifully connects our village with its Scottish namesake.
“We are deeply grateful for their kindness and generosity.
“In a world that can sometimes feel very large, moments like this remind us how small it can be.
“A shared name became a shared story, and two strangers became welcome friends.”
