Why is the Unicorn one of Scotland's official animals?

Answer 1

These are exact word from a page in the related links:

Actually, the red lion rampant is more commonly associated with the Kings of Scotland. This is what I found on the subject of the Unicorn:

"In heraldry the unicorn was sometimes used as a device (see Heraldry, where two English families are enumerated who used the unicorn on their arms), but more frequently as a supporter, and subsists to the present day as the left-hand supporter of the royal arms. This position it assumed at the Union, the Scottish royal arms having previously been supported by two unicorns. The origin of these is uncertain. The unicorn first appears (c. 1480), as a single supporter, on two gold coins of James III. of Scotland, hence known as "unicorns" and "half-unicorns" (see Lindsay, Coinage of Scotland, pp. 135-137 and plate xiii. figs. 22-27). It is represented in a sitting posture, having round its neck a crown, to which is attached a chain and ring, and holding the shield between its front feet. Seton (Law and Practice of Heraldry in Scotland, Edinburgh, 1863, p. 274, foot-note) suggests that the unicorn as a supporter may have been introduced into Scotland by the marriage of James I. with Jane Beaufort, the Beauforts as dukes of Somerset having used it as such.' However this may be, the unicorn became established by the end of the 15th century. J. A. Smith in "Notes on Melrose Abbey" (Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, ii. 257) describes a table dated 1505 on which are sculptured the royal arms supported by two unicorns. The royal arms are also supported by unicorns on the Great Seals of Scotland from the time of Queen Mary onwards (see Anderson, Diplomata Scotiae, plate lxxxviii. xc. xci.). At the Union, when the unicorn became a supporter of the royal arms both of England and Scotland, a royal crown was added on the head of the unicorn, in addition to the crown with chain and ring round its neck (see Great Seal of James I. and VI. in Anderson, pl. xciii.), but this crown was removed after the Hanoverian succession. In England after the Union the unicorn became the left-hand supporter, but in Scotland, as late as 1766, it was still put on the right (Seton, p. 442), and Scotland displayed great reluctance to alter this, or to remove the crown from the head of the unicorn. Seton tells us how in 1853 a petition was made in favour, among other things, of retaining the crown on the unicorn, but without success. The rule, however, that the unicorn is to be the left-hand supporter, uncrowned, is still sometimes ignored, and Seton states (1863) that in the case of seals, such as that of the Board of Manufactures, which bear the Scottish arms alone, the two unicorns are still kept as supporters."

Someone else: i don't think it is from Scottland I have a book of unicrns and it says that they come from any forset beaucse the Phoenix choose the outer space, the dragon choose the sky and the uniorns choose the forset. I think. It also says that unicorns did not want to be on the ship with Noah when he saved the animals they thought it was a trick so most of them drownded sadly.