LABOUR have been accused of “erasing” the Saltire from their campaign – after scrubbing the iconic blue and white standard from their election materials.
Brand guidelines released by the party show Labour will not use Saltire blue on their campaign leaflets, posters or other materials this election.
Instead, they have opted for a colour palette featuring “Labour Red”, “Gradient Purple”, “Scotland Brand Gradient”, “White”, and “Accessible Black”.
Their five “missions” for government are also colour-coded: “Growth Pink”, "Green Energy Green”, “NHS Blue”, “Policing Yellow”, and “Opportunity Purple”.
Blue is more commonly associated with policing and the colour purple is often associated with royalty.
And the guidelines for their branding in Scotland specifically request campaigners use the “Scotland Brand Gradient” for materials, which washes out both the blue and the white in the Saltire, rendering it in shades of red and purple.
The party also recommends the use of their trademark font, first introduced at the party’s 2023 conference.
It is called Poppins and was demonstrated in a Google file linked to the brand guidelines document, with the apparently incomplete phrase: “Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted”.
This has since been deleted.
Labour leader Keir Starmer was also criticised for standing beside two Union flags when he responded to Thursday’s General Election announcement.
The Alba Party have claimed that the Saltire portion of the flag had been slimmed down to put more emphasis on the English components.
Chris McEleny, the party’s general secretary and a candidate in the upcoming election, said: “It appears that the Labour Party have had their own Union flags made to amplify the English flag and in doing so are erasing the flag of Scotland.
“This tells you all you need to know about what Labour thinks about Scotland.”
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: "Scottish Labour is committed to sending as many Labour MPs to Westminster to put Scotland at the heart of a government and deliver on Scots’ priorities, from cutting NHS waiting times to creating jobs and making work pay.
“While Alba flap about flags, Scottish Labour is committed to delivering the change that Scotland needs.”
