In the nautical flag signal alphabet, a white saltire on a blue background is the letter “M”, Mike. When flown from a naval ship’s signal halyard in port, it signals, “On Medical Guard Duty”, standing watch over our health. A saltire is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross like the letter X in Roman type. Sometimes this symbol is referred to as St. Andrew’s cross.
Beginning in 832 the Scots Picts adopted St. Andrew’s Cross as their flag and battle banner.
Settlement and development of the Boothbay region was heavily influenced by Scots-Irish immigrants who were encouraged by the British to settle in the area beginning in about 1730. Those fiercely independent Scots-Irish settlers and their descendants (the so-called Liberty Men) came into conflict with the established colonial aristocracy (the Great Proprietors), chiefly centered in the Massachusetts colony, over conflicting land claims. In a rare “win” for the alleged “squatters”, the Scots-Irish farmers and fishermen prevailed against the absentee land-owners when, in 1813, they were awarded clear deeds to their land in recognition of the “improvements” they had made by clearing the land and “developing” it, adding to the land’s usefulness and value.
In 1913, Dr. George Gregory chose to name his hospital in Boothbay Harbor in honor of St. Andrew, patron saint of the Scots and of fishermen. In October, 2013, St. Andrews Hospital, “the Heart of the Community”, was closed. Many of the members of the community who tried to prevent the closure of St. Andrews Hospital decided to focus on bolstering the availability of primary care on the Boothbay peninsula–to avoid the need for unplanned hospitalization.