In the case of COP26 — A New Dawn, inspiration came from design research where Wilton found a synchronicity between the Scottish town of Callander and the name of the pioneering scientist with almost the same name Guy Stewart Callendar who, in , first linked the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide to human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels.
With Callander being in a region associated with the MacGregor clan, Wilton used the colours of their tartan blue, green and white as a springboard for a design that added new layers of resonance — both visual and conceptual.
For example, when woven, colours come together at certain points to fill the fabric with glowing points of brightness that look like miniature suns rising on a new dawn. The green squares in the design, meanwhile, each use 26 threads in the weaving process, nodding to the conference name.
Finally, the new tartan includes reused wool from the textile recycling centre of Prato in Tuscany , one of Scotland's partners for the COP26 conference. Wilton's effect of tiny suns is an example of the visual creativity that can be injected into the basic tartan template of squares and perpendicular lines that arose from its loom-based weaving process.
Tartan design can sometimes echo processes more familiar in the language of abstract painters — think Piet Mondrian's famous intermeshed geometric squares, or the Op Art interplay of colours and movement where lines intersect. While the essentials of tartan design have barely changed over time, there are new colours available now Credit: National Museums Scotland.
In Medieval times, for example, the colours of tartan fabric would have been significantly limited to the choice of native plants in each region of Scotland from which natural dyes could be extracted. By the 18th Century, however, global trade meant tartan makers could access more exotic colour sources.
Brian Wilton's tartan for the upcoming COP26 climate conference is just one example of a classic fabric going beyond simple aesthetics to explore more serious issues. One example is a tartan linked to Scotland's homelessness crisis , designed by Brian Halley at Glasgow-based tartan pioneers Slanj Kilts. Each of the colours are woven the same thickness to form a network, which to my knowledge makes it unique. Designers are incorporating social issues into patterns, such as this tartan aiming to raise money to tackle homelessness Credit: Slanj Kilts.
Other striking tartans designed by Halley have very different inspirations. In contrast to Brian Wilton's more optimistic climate-change tartan, for example, Halley's Climate Emergency tartan draws its colours "from the Earth on fire — green, blue and white for the Earth, and orange red and yellow for the flames". Other contemporary tartans illustrate the ability of this classic Scottish fabric to reach far and wide in their reference to place and time.
For example, an Obama Family tartan commissioned from Brian Halley to mark the former US President's visit to Scotland took design cues from colours associated with key places in his life as different as Chicago, Hawaii and Kenya. All tartan cloth was hand woven, and usually supplied locally. While it may have been true that certain colors or pattern motifs were more common in some areas than others, no regulated or defined "clan tartan" system ever existed.
Tartan, in general, however came to be extremely popular in Scottish Highland culture. So much so that by the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, tartan clothing is seen to be characteristic of Highland dress.
Tartan was so identified with the Highland Gael that after the Battle of Culloden in , the British government, in the Act of Proscription, forbade the wearing of tartan among other things in the Highlands, in an attempt to suppress the rebellious Scottish culture. By the end of the eighteenth century, large scale commercial weavers had taken up the production of tartan. This firm was begun sometime around and became quite successful, being the sole supplier of tartan cloth to the Highland Regiments.
Because they were producing cloth in such large quantities, they developed standard colors and patterns early on. At first they assigned numbers to identify the patterns, but soon began to give them names. These not only included names of Highland clans, but also town names, and some fancy names to boot. The names were not meant to be representative in any way -- they were there as a sales tool, to identify one tartan pattern from another.
In Wilsons' Key Pattern Book of , some tartans are included, about of which were given names. These were not only tartans of Wilsons' designs, but patterns that they had collected from all over Scotland. In the early nineteenth century, the idea began to gel that the names borne by the tartans represented actual connections to these clans.
Scots expatriates who grew up outside of the Highland line began to get interested in preserving Highland culture. It was assumed that tartans had always been named and these represented actual affiliations. In the Highland Society of London wrote to the clan chiefs asking them to submit samples of their clan tartans. Many chiefs had no idea what "their clan tartan" was supposed to be and so either wrote to tartan suppliers such as Wilsons, or asked the older men of their clan if they recalled any particular tartan being worn.
Heck, you can even design your own tartan. But here's the big take-away: there's no rule to stop you wearing any old clan or family tartan! That idea's a myth. Scottish tradition is all about welcoming outsiders into our community. To wear someone's plaid is a sign of respect and friendship. So it's fine to choose any traditional tartan just because you like it!
This is Scotland's beautiful gift to the world. We love it when you love our tartan - whichever you choose. To find other tartans you can take pride in owning, we suggest our article about what tartan can I wear? Or if you've a fairly common name, search our Tartan Finder for your surname to see a vast choice of plaids. And if you've found this article helpful, please help others find it!
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