The Scottish Football Association's new president has described Flower of Scotland as "a total dirge" and says he wants it scrapped as the team's anthem.

George Peat, who was officially appointed on Friday, said he hoped that a songwriter would take on the challenge to compose a "more stirring" anthem which could be sung before matches both at home and abroad.

He said: "A couple of years ago I met a member of the Tartan Army who was a songwriter and I challenged him to come up with a better version. I would love someone to do that now.

"Personally, I would favour a more stirring anthem than the one we have now.

"When the song is sung at Hampden it is reasonable but when the national team goes abroad, it can become embarrassing.

"It's played at about a third of the speed it should be and the fans end up four or five bars ahead."

God Save The Queen was the anthem sung at football matches until the late 1970s when it was replaced by Scotland The Brave.

Flower of Scotland, which was written in 1966 by Roy Williamson of The Corries, has been sung before Scotland international football matches since 1993.

However, Tam Ferry, spokesman for the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, said most fans supported the current choice.

"You can't really get more stirring than Flower of Scotland," he said. "Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but 95% of people love it. It gets the passion going before a game.

"Until we get our own Scottish national anthem I don't see any point in worrying about it. The fans want it, if he doesn't like it, that's tough."

Last night, First Minister Alex Salmond said: "I personally like the song. There should be a referendum and let the Tartan Army decide from the wide range of songs we have to choose from."

The lack of an official national anthem for Scotland has sparked debate in recent years and many campaigners believe that one song should be chosen to end any confusion.

Although Flower of Scotland is currently played before football and rugby matches, Scotland the Brave was used during last year's Commonwealth Games.

Last year, Flower of Scotland topped a public poll which asked people to choose the song that they would prefer to be their national anthem.

The song won 41% of the vote in an online survey conducted by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It was a clear winner, well ahead of Scotland the Brave, Highland Cathedral and Robert Burns' A Man's a Man for a' That.