Varieties
Along with the kilt and bagpipes the tartan
is the most recognized Scottish symbol and the
most popular. As can be
seen everyday it is used and worn by people all over the world.
Many
people believe that all tartans are associated with clans, but that is not
true. Beside
clan and family tartans there are tartans for
organizations, geographical areas, nations, historic
events, individuals,
sports teams, corporations, universities, and a host of others. For
example,
many U.S. states and Canadian provinces have their own
tartans. The U.S. Army, Navy,
Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard
each has a tartan. There are tartans for the
United States, Wales,
Ireland, Ulster, Australia, New Zealand and even the Netherlands
and Germany. There is a tartan to commemorate
Princess Diana, another for the Battle of
Culloden and one for the American
Bicentennial. Notre Dame and the Virginia Military
Institute are two
of a number of American colleges and universities with their own tartans.
Then there are several universal or Scottish tartans such as the Black Watch
(or "Government"),
the Caledonia, the Hunting Stewart (which is not a Clan
Stewart tartan), the Flower of Scotland,
and the
Scottish National.
There are over 3,700 tartans
recorded with the Scottish Tartans Authority with more being
created and
recorded all the time. It's almost certain that even if you are not of
Scottish ancestry
you will be able to
find a
tartan that you can identify with.
The Scottish Tartans
Authority was formed in 1996 by leading Scottish weavers and tartan
retailers. It is a registered Scottish charity with the major
objective of promoting a deeper
knowledge of Scottish Tartans, their
origins, manufacture, use, history and development.
Scotland has no
official government agency that registers tartans. The Scottish Tartans
Authority's web site is a great place for Scottish information, with a
search engine for
finding tartans, although the tartan display is somewhat
small. The web site's address is:
http://www.tartansauthority.com/Web/Site/home/home.asp
“Hunting” or “Dress”
Clans (and families) frequently have more than one official tartan, some of which are
described according to the purpose for which they are named: Clan tartans are patterns
(or "setts") for general use by clans people.
Continued . . .
©2010 NTDWA