WITH red flags fluttering across the Orkneys, visitors might be forgiven for thinking these islands have already joined Norway.
It is an impression compounded by images of fearsome men in horned helmets adorning shop displays, revealing a pride in a historic link to the Vikings.
And now the windswept archipelago is considering making its ties to the Scandinavian country official with a controversial suggestion that it could break away from the UK.
But not everyone who lives there supports the idea.
The man leading the charge for Orcadian independence, 65-year-old retired oatcake businessman James Stockan, reckons Holyrood, Westminster and the European Union HQ are too far removed to properly look after their interests.