This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. When this tag was added, its readable prose size was 33,000 words. Consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page.(June 2023)
This article may contain excessive or irrelevant examples. Please help improve the article by adding descriptive text and removing less pertinent examples.(April 2024)
This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia's inclusion policy.(April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
(Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Part of a series on the
Culture of Scotland
History
Timeline
Prehistoric
Roman times
Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
Kingdom
High Middle Ages
Davidian Revolution
Wars of Independence
Late Middle Ages
Renaissance
Early modern
Reformation
Colonisation of the Americas
Glorious Revolution
1707 Acts of Union
Jacobitism
Enlightenment
Lowland Clearances
Highland Clearances
Industrial Revolution
Romanticism
Modern
People
Languages
Scottish Gaelic
Broad Scots
Scottish English
Pictish
Norn
Traditions
Clothing
Hackle
Burning of the Clavie
Burns supper
Common Riding
Crofting
Saining
Scots law
Scottish clan
Skalk
Up Helly Aa
Units of measurement
Mythology and Folklore
Cuisine
Festivals
St. Andrew's Day
Hogmanay
Burns supper
Tartan Day
Lanimer Day
Imbolc
Bealltainn/May Day
Lùnastal
Samhainn
Religion
Art
Literature
Music and Performing arts
Folk music
Scottish highland dance
Scottish country dance
Scottish sword dances
Mod
Keening
Waulking song
Opera
Puirt à beul
Border Ballad
Media
Radio
Television
Cinema
Sport
Golf
Curling
Football
Haggis hurling
Hailes
Highland games
Horse racing
Rugby sevens
Rugby union
Shinty
Shot put
Monuments
World Heritage Sites
Symbols
Flag
Coat of arms
National anthem
Lion Rampant
Thistle
Tartan
Celtic cross
Celtic knot
Scottish inventions and discoveries
Scotland portal
v
t
e
Tartan (Scottish Gaelic: breacan[ˈpɾʲɛxkən]) is a patterned cloth with crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming simple or complex rectangular patterns. Tartans originated in woven wool, but are now made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland, and Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns.
Outside of Scotland, tartan is sometimes also known as "plaid" (particularly in North America); however, in Scotland, a plaid is a large piece of tartan cloth which can be worn several ways.
Traditional tartan is made with alternating bands of coloured (pre-dyed) threads woven in usually matching warp and weft in a simple 2/2 twill pattern. Up close, this pattern forms alternating short diagonal lines where different colours cross; from further back, it gives the appearance of new colours blended from the original ones. The resulting blocks of colour repeat vertically and horizontally in a distinctive pattern of rectangles and lines known as a sett.
Scottish tartan was originally associated with the Highlands. Early tartans were only particular to locales, rather than any specific Scottish clan; like other materials, tartan designs were produced by local weavers for local tastes, using the most available natural dyes. The Dress Act of 1746 attempted to bring the warrior clans there under government control by banning Highland dress, then an important element of Gaelic Scottish culture. When the law was repealed in 1782, tartan was no longer ordinary dress for most Highlanders. It was adopted more widely as the symbolic national dress of all Scotland when King George IV wore a tartan kilt in his 1822 visit to Scotland; it was promoted further by Queen Victoria. This marked an era of rather politicised "tartanry" and "Highlandism".
While the first uniform tartan is believed to date to 1713 (with some evidence of militia use earlier), it was not until around the early 19th century that patterns were created for specific Scottish clans;[1] most of the traditional ones were established between 1815 and 1850. The Victorian-era invention of artificial dyes meant that a multitude of patterns could be produced cheaply; mass-produced tartan fashion cloth was applied to a nostalgic (and increasingly aristocratic, and profitable) view of Scottish history.
Today tartan is no longer limited to textiles, but is also used as a name for the pattern itself, regardless of medium. The use of tartan has spread outside Scotland, especially to countries that have been influenced by Scottish culture. However, tartan-styled patterns have existed for centuries in some other cultures, such as Japan, where complex kōshi fabrics date to at least the 18th century, and Russia (sometimes with gold and silver thread) since at least the early 19th century. Maasai shúkà wraps, Bhutanese mathra weaving, and Indian madras cloth are also often in tartan patterns, distinct from the Scottish style.
^Newsome, Matthew Allan C. (1994). "Introduction to Tartan". Franklin, North Carolina: Scottish Tartans Museum. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
Tartan (Scottish Gaelic: breacan [ˈpɾʲɛxkən]) is a patterned cloth with crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming simple or complex...
Tartan Day is celebration of Scottish heritage and the cultural contributions of Scottish and Scottish-diaspora figures of history. The name refers to...
This is a list of tartans from around the world. The examples shown below are generally emblematic of a particular association. However, for each clan...
Regimental tartans are tartan patterns used in military uniforms, possibly originally by some militias of Scottish clans, certainly later by some of the...
Jewish tartans, also called Kosher tartans, are tartans made for the Jewish community of Scotland, as well as for Jews around the world. Tartans, checkered...
Border tartan, sometimes known as Borders tartan, Northumbrian tartan, Northumberland tartan, shepherds' plaid, shepherds' check, Border drab, or Border...
Regional tartans of Canada are represented by all Canada's provinces and territories having a regional tartan, as do many other regional divisions in Canada...
Sillitoe tartan is the nickname given to the distinctive checkered pattern, usually black-and-white, which was originally associated with the police in...
Royal Stuart tartan is the best-known tartan retrospectively associated with the royal House of Stewart, and is also the personal tartan of the British...
The 2024 Tartan Pro Tour, titled as the 2024 Farmfoods Tartan Pro Tour for sponsorships reasons, will be the fifth season of the Tartan Pro Tour, a third-tier...
The Tartan Army are fans of the Scotland national football team. They have won awards from several organisations for their friendly behaviour and charitable...
Tartan Track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. The...
Tartan Noir is a form of crime fiction particular to Scotland and Scottish writers. William McIlvanney, who wrote three crime novels, the first being Laidlaw...
The 2023 Tartan Pro Tour, titled as the 2023 Farmfoods Tartan Pro Tour for sponsorships reasons, was the fourth season of the Tartan Pro Tour, a third-tier...
The Colorado state tartan is the Scottish-style tartan pattern officially adopted by the US State of Colorado to represent the state in various functions...
their own tartan and specific land, was promulgated by the Scottish author Sir Walter Scott after influence by others. Historically, tartan designs were...
the Cameron of Erracht tartan, not a Gordon variant. The main Gordon tartan has been used for many years as the troop tartan for the 10th Finchley (Scottish)...
Carnegie Mellon fields eight men's teams and nine women's teams as the Tartans. The university's faculty and alumni include 20 Nobel Prize laureates and...
worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first...
The Carolina tartan is the official state tartan of both North Carolina and South Carolina. It was designed by Peter MacDonald of Crieff, Scotland, who...
dress of the Highlands and Isles of Scotland. It is often characterised by tartan (plaid in North America). Specific designs of shirt, jacket, bodice and...
following the collapse of Tartan Films in the summer of 2008. Palisades Tartan aims to acquire and distribute films from Tartan Films' library, ensuring...
tartanitis, Highlandism, Balmorality, Sir Walter Scottishness, tartanism, tartan-tat, and the tartan terror. In its simplest definition, tartanry is 'sentimental...
The Tartans, also known as Devon and the Tartans, were a rocksteady group who came together in 1967 in Kingston, Jamaica. The members were initially Prince...
The 2022 Tartan Pro Tour, titled as the 2022 Farmfoods Tartan Pro Tour for sponsorships reasons, was the third season of the Tartan Pro Tour, a third-tier...
Tartan Laboratories, Inc., later renamed Tartan, Inc., was an American software company founded in 1981 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that specialized...
The 2021 Tartan Pro Tour, titled as the 2021 Farmfoods Tartan Pro Tour for sponsorships reasons, was the second season of the Tartan Pro Tour, a third-tier...