St Andrews Day: What countries is Saint Andrew patron saint of?

While Saint Andrew is strongly associated with Scotland and its flag - the Saltire - other countries also have him as their patron saint.

With countries far and wide acknowledging Andrew the Apostle, here are all the nations that have him as patron saint.

Why is Saint Andrew the patron saint of Scotland?

St Andrew Day takes place on November 30th in Scotland. (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

According to Brand Scotland, the Galilean (located in what is now Greece) was selected as Scotland's patron saint as he gave the fledgling kingdom several advantages.

Saint Andrew was selected as Scotland's saint in 1320 when the Scots made an appeal to the Pope in the Declaration of Arbroath for protection against English conquest.

He was thought to be a suitable choice as he was the brother of Saint Peter, the founder of the Church.

There are also a number of legends which have been used to explain why Andrew was selected as the kingdom's patron saint.

One myth states that the early Scots are descended from the Scythians who lived in what is now Romania and Bulgaria. Here, it is said the saint converted them to Christianity.

There were also rumours that St Andrew, who was said to have travelled far and wide to convert people, came as far north as Scotland to establish a church in Fife.

Regardless, St Andrew's Day is now Scotland's national day, taking place annually on November 30.

Saint Andrew is also the patron saint of other countries like Ukraine and Barbados (Getty) (Image: Getty)

What other countries have Saint Andrew as their patron saint?

A number of countries have Saint Andrew as their patron saint such as the island nation of Barbados, Romania, Ukraine and Russia.

He is also the patron saint of several cities such as Pienza and Amalfi in Italy, Esgueira in Portugal, Luqa in Malta, Parañaque in the Philippines and Patras in Greece.