The refusal of some SNP councillors to take to their feet for Glasgow's Lord Provost has led to them being threatened with a complaint to the public standards watchdog.

The row is pitting republicans against the Queen's representative in Scotland's largest city over the right to stand or not to stand.

Two SNP councillors, including the group's deputy leader, have refused to stand for the Lord Provost at full council meetings for over six years, putting it down to "long-held republican views".

As well as her role of chairing the full council meetings and representing the authority on civic and ceremonial occasions, the Lord Provost, Labour's Sadie Docherty, is also ex-officio the Lord Lieutenant of Glasgow and acts as the Queen's representative in the city.

The municipal mace, dating from 1912, is carried into the council chamber before full meetings to symbolise the Lord Provost's roles and is placed in front of her seat, gifted by Queen Victoria.

Although the snub by Billy McAllister and David Turner had gone largely ignored between 2007 and 2012, the change in personnel after the last local ­elections in 2012 has seen the stance become an issue.

Proposed solutions have been ruled out on both ceremonial and practical grounds.

The spat has resulted in a meeting between the SNP business manager on the council and Mrs Docherty, during which she is understood to have claimed the lack of respect shown to her and her office could lead to a complaint to the Standards Commission, with the matter threatening to come to a head next week.

In a letter to Mrs Docherty explaining his stance, Councillor Turner said: "I, and many other elected members of this council, are republicans and do not recognise the symbol of the monarch in the form of the mace.

"My decision not to stand represents this, and no disrespect is intended to the office of Lord Provost."

But Labour's Martin McElroy said the issue boiled down to little more than a lack of respect for a political opponent.

Councillor McElroy, who said he was ambivalent about the monarchy, said: "If there was an SNP provost you can bet Councillors Turner and McAllister would be on their feet. Sadie is the first citizen of Glasgow and this is a matter of respect. They've been ignored in the past, but I'm a stickler for manners and once I realised the reason they weren't standing wasn't medical I raised it as a point of order."

An SNP group spokesman said: "This is all rather embarrassing for the post of Lord Provost. To make a song and dance at the last meeting about councillors not standing for her because they have long-held republican views is maybe the most ridiculous issue anyone has got upset about in a long time.

"That this was done only seconds before ruling out of order an emergency motion on staff facing redundancy notices reflects pretty mixed-up priorities."

A council spokeswoman said: "Councillor McAllister has been warned about his poor behaviour by the Lord Provost. Elected members from across the council have also expressed their frustration at his conduct. It is disappointing that he isn't focusing his efforts on the issues that actually matter to the lives of the people of Glasgow."

Councillor McAllister said: ": "I have fought hard for my constituents - and the citizens of Glasgow - since I was elected in 2005 and before that as a community activist.  My record speaks for itself.

"I have never been formally warned about my behaviour by the Lord Provost, there is absolutely no evidence of cross-Party frustration with me and I am fighting for the issues that matter to Glaswegians every single day.  I am one of the most active councillors in Glasgow, on issues such as social security, food banks, housing and education.

"I will continue to defend the rights of my constituents and my own integrity at all times."