inside iScot

A very warm welcome to issue 85 of our award-winning iScot Magazine. I had recently asked a young graphic artist if they could create an image that would encapsulate the ‘Spirit of Independence’ and that in itself opened up a whole list of questions as independence means many different things to many people and rarely is it about referencing ‘what currency will we use’.

It got me thinking. “What *is* the Spirit of independence?

Independence, as a concept, is revered, pursued, and celebrated in many forms. Whether it’s a teenager yearning for autonomy, a country breaking free from colonial rulers, or a person escaping the fetters of societal expectations, the spirit of independence represents a journey towards freedom, self-realisation, and sovereignty.

In the realm of nations, the spirit of independence is usually encapsulated in revolutions, movements, and declarations. The American Revolution, India’s struggle against British rule, or the various waves of decolonisation in Africa all bear testimony to a collective will to self-govern and to determine one’s own destiny. These movements weren’t merely about political or economic control, but were fuelled by a deeper yearning for identity, dignity, and a right to shape one’s future. The statues, monuments, and holidays that commemorate these struggles across various countries are not just reminders of the past, but perpetual flames that signify the spirit of autonomy.