Tartan - FAQs
How do people invent new tartan, and do they have to be
authenticated?
You obviously have to know something about tartans
before you start designing new ones - especially when you consider that there
are already over 3,500 in existence. There are two ways of designing a new
tartan - either by taking an existing one and changing some of the colours and
proportions or starting with a blank canvas. Computer software is now available
to help with this task.(take a look at our ITI
Professional) Once designed, a tartan should be checked with the
Scottish Tartans Authority to ensure that it’s not too close to
an existing one. That’s all that’s needed.
Do you have to have Scottish origins to have your own
tartan?
No you don’t but very few people would want their own tartan
if they didn’t have some Scottish blood in the family somewhere.
What is the most exclusive tartan?
That’s difficult. One
answer could be that a personal tartan made for one man would be the most
exclusive. Perhaps you mean which is the most desirable tartan and the answer to
that could be the Balmoral tartan which was designed by Queen
Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert and which can only be worn by the Royal
Family. No weaver in the United Kingdom would produce that for anyone other than
the Royal Family. Some overseas weavers have ignored the longstanding convention
and produced what purports to be Balmoral. Such behaviour is viewed with great
disdain by the Scottish industry and anyone who wore it in Scotland would be
committing a great social (but not legal) sin!
Is all
tartan square?
Mostly . . . but some patterns will have
rectangles instead of squares which is really to do with the shape of some of
the patterns that were produced in the old days
on handlooms.
What are the simplest and most
complicated patterns of tartan?
The simplest is probably something
like Rob Roy which is just a pattern of red and black squares. The most
complicated would be the Ogilvie which changes colour about 96
times.
Is there a quality control on the tartan patterns, for example would
you ever see an orange and pink tartan?
Sometimes we wish there
was some quality control but the answer has to be ‘No’ - there are no
tartan police pouncing on wearers of garish and badly designed tartans. Many
amateur designers seem to think that if they crisscross a few bands of different
colours then they have a tartan. All too frequently, all they have is a
discordant mish-mash that has a passing similarity to a tartan. Tartan
designing is an art form and encompasses a knowledge of tartan history and a
good eye for design and colours. That doesn't mean to say that anyone else can't
have good fun designing their own tartan - it just means that they should study
the subject a little before starting!
I'm getting
married soon and would like some Russell ribbon for our bouquets - where can I
get it?
I'm afraid that no-one produces the Russell/Mitchell ribbon.
What we usually try and do if possible is to suggest a ribbon that might pass
for the required one. In this case the 'Rose' ribbon has the same colours as the
Russell although not quite in the same place! If you're going to be using
a fairly narrow ribbon it will hardly show! Have a look at our on article
on Ribbon
We are considering the creation of a tartan for the name
---------. Your web site refers to family name tartans and states
that they require the approval of the family/clan chief. To my knowledge
there is no such thing for the family name --------, and I have been unable to
locate any existing tartan for that name. Can you see any reason why we
could not proceed in creating a tartan and calling it a “Family
Tartan”?
If there is no such clan, or chief, or head of the family,
then there can still be a -------- tartan but it would be categorised as
Personal and in the tartan notes it could/would say - if you agreed - "Can be
worn by all of the name"
It's semantics but necessary I'm afraid to try and
keep some sense of order!
In time - like many historical tartans - the
-------- Personal tartan may become worn by so many of that name around the
globe that it will become - by usage - a Clan/Family tartan and then the
categorisation in the database would be changed.
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