The Fairy Flag of Dunvegan
In a Scottish castle hangs a faded silk flag said to be a gift from the fairies, able to save the clan three times when waved.
What was reported
Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye, seat of the chiefs of Clan MacLeod, keeps a fragile, faded silk banner called the Fairy Flag. Clan tradition says it was given to a MacLeod chief by a fairy, sometimes said to be his fairy wife, and that waving it in time of need will bring help.
Legend says it can be used only three times, and that it has already been waved twice, to win battles or stop a plague among the clan's cattle.
Explanations offered
Textile experts who examined the flag found it is made of silk probably woven in the Middle East, perhaps Syria or Rhodes, between the 4th and 7th centuries, long before the MacLeods. How it reached Skye is unknown; one idea is that it was brought back from the Crusades.
- When
- Legend for centuries
- Where
- Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye, Scotland
- Witnesses
- Clan MacLeod tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.