The white X-shaped cross of St. Andrew against a blue background derives from an experience of a Christian Pictish army going into battle against a non-Christian tribe, seeing a "sun-dog," or halo around the sun.

The Columbia Encyclopedia defines halo: "short-lived circles or arcs, and less commonly spikes and crosses, of colored or whitish light surrounding the moon or sun or in clouds as seen from above. A halo occurs when light from the sun or moon is refracted and reflected by ice crystals in the atmosphere, usually in a thin layer of high cirrostratus clouds."

When the Christian army won the battle, the victory was attributed to the work of St. Andrew, whose X-shaped cross appeared in the sun-dog, and from that time Andrew became the patron of that tribe, and eventually patron saint of all Scotland. This same shield is found on the front of the pulpit.

Note four wooden sculptures (in next four illustrations)