Need Saltire Dimensions

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

In heraldry ordinaries are often based on the rule of thirds. So, for a saltire you would first diagonally divide the field into thirds, and then draw the arms 2/3 the width of the centre third. (Bet you didn't know there were guidelines for this sort of thing, did you?) I'm too tired to do the math, but I think that works out to about 20% of the height of the shield?? Anyhow, the big question is, what is the official colour of the Scottish flag?

[The Wizard of BC]

From the Scottish Parliament website the color for the background is Pantone 300.

And from the same site, the 1/5th or 20% of the "flag" or height is correct for the width of the arm of the cross. The other dimension is called the "Fly" or length.

[Bugbear]

In heraldry ordinaries are often based on the rule of thirds. So, for a saltire you would first diagonally divide the field into thirds, and then draw the arms 2/3 the width of the centre third. (Bet you didn't know there were guidelines for this sort of thing, did you?) I'm too tired to do the math, but I think that works out to about 20% of the height of the shield?? Anyhow, the big question is, what is the official colour of the Scottish flag?

Hmmm, we use that technique a lot in art outside of heraldry. It's almost an alturnative to the golden ratio. It's also somewhat like the way the branch placement is decided in bonsai. Very interesting...