With over 400 riders, this is recognised as one of the oldest of the Borders festivals, dating from the Battle of Flodden in 1513.

Selkirk's famous festival often attracts hundreds of horse riders who follow the Standard Bearer 'safe oot and safe in' on the ride around the burgh bounds, and has been called the largest equestrian gathering in Europe.

The riders process through the town in the early morning before making the journey around the surrounding hills, returning in the late morning for a moving ceremony, known as 'the casting of the colours' in the Market Place. This ritual commemorates events following the Battle of Flodden in 1513, when it is said that only one of the town's men returned alive to report the defeat, which he did by exhaustedly lowering to the ground the banner he had brought back with him. (Source: www.visitscotland.com)