IT first appeared three years ago at the first March and Rally for Scottish Independence in Glasgow and he or she has been at the subsequent marches in the city.
Yet it was its standout role in the 60,000-strong All Under One Banner (AUOB) march in Glasgow on May 5 that set social media alight with the questions “is that a giant unicorn?” and “who are the people who made it?”
Never knowingly beaten when it comes to questions related to independence, The National set out to solve the mystery and thanks to National reader Alan Miller we have tracked down the unicorn and its makers.
First thing to say is that it really is a unicorn, ancient symbol of Scotland, chosen by our kings in bygone days because in legend and mythology it was a proud creature who would rather die than be captured.
Though some see it as a work of art, the giant white unicorn on the indy marches is “a protest parade item”, according to the two men who made it, Adam Faulds and James MacEachran.
Faulds, 36, is a cabinet and furniture maker who lives and works on the southside of Glasgow. He is originally from Ayrshire but has been in Glasgow for 20 years.
He built the chassis for the unicorn, while his colleague and friend MacEachran, artist and sculptor and graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, made the animal itself.
Its origin came just days before the first AUOB march in 2015 and Faulds revealed that it was not conceived as an artwork.
“A work of art?” he said. “If it was, we would have made it a lot better and would have spent a lot more time on it than the three nights in which we built it from scratch. It’s a protest piece to be used as a parade item. Our idea was to try to get people to think of the march as a mardis gras affair and enthuse people to make other pieces of protest work.
“We dug in to our own pocket to pay for it and managed to get some scrap bicycle items, but we had to buy the cling wrap that forms the Unicorn’s body.
“It’s very much a DIY creation, like independence itself.
“We’re hoping that now it’s getting well known it will encourage people to build their own offshoots for future marches.”
Faulds added: “It’s a national emblem with lots of symbolism involved, and the striking thing to me is that many people don’t know that the unicorn is an emblem of Scotland.”
They’re learning, thanks to the Giant Unicorn of Glasgow.
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