Guidance

Welcome to the Scottish Register of Tartans Guidance Document. This document provides background information and guidance on the facilities and services available for use in the Register.

The Scottish Register of Tartans - Introduction
The Scottish Register of Tartans (hereafter the Register) is a national repository of tartans. The Scottish Register of Tartans Bill received Royal Assent on 26 November 2008. A copy of the Act can be viewed at the Office of Public Sector Information website, http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2008/pdf/asp_20080007_en.pdf.

The aim of the Register is to create a register of tartans that is independent, definitive, accessible and sustainable to help promote and preserve tartan. The Register also aims to help increase interest in tartan, tourism and general genealogical research. The Register will be a definitive reference and registration source for tartans. The Register will be essentially electronic as will all access to it. The Register will become a repository of existing tartans in Scotland. It will become a focal point for interest in and promotion of tartan, and set up an official, but voluntary, system for recognising new tartans.

The National Archives of Scotland (NAS), is responsible for operating and maintaining the Register. NAS is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. The Keeper of the Records of Scotland (chief executive of the NAS) is also the Keeper of the Scottish Register of Tartans (hereafter the Keeper). The Keeper will consider new tartans against a number of criteria, including the definition of tartan contained in the Act, and the uniqueness of the tartan. Applying a transparent set of criteria to new tartans will help deepen knowledge of tartan and tartan design, and encourage innovation in design.

Anyone can register new tartans - from members of the public to fashion designers to weavers and kilt makers. You can search the many thousands of existing tartans using the facilities provided. Useful links to Scotland's tartan industry sources are also accessible from this site.
[top of page]

Search the Register
The Register contains thousands of tartans, which are free for you to search and reference. In addition to containing tartan designs registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans since its introduction on 5 February 2009, it also incorporates pre-existing tartans that were included in the databases held by the Scottish Tartans Authority and the Scottish Tartans World Register.
[top of page]

Where tartans have been incorporated from existing registers
The National Archives of Scotland has worked with the Scottish Tartans Authority and the Scottish Tartans World Register to amalgamate their existing databases into a single dataset for use with the Register.

It should be noted, however, that the registration criterion applied by these two individual organisations is different from those applied to the official Register. Not all tartans were recognised by the Scottish Tartans Authority. Any notes or background information made available for pre-existing tartans may derive from a variety of external sources. While every effort has been made to check and validate this information, it is acknowledged that inaccuracies or lack of clarity may exist in some of the records. The National Archives of Scotland will continue to work with its tartan industry partners over the coming years to continue to improve the information contained in the official Register.

Click here to visit the Scottish Tartans Authority (STA) website to obtain details of the previous STA registration processes and criteria.

Click here to visit the Scottish Tartans World Register (STWR) website to obtain details of the STWR previous registration processes and criteria.
[top of page]

User account
While you can search the Register without having to register and login, you will need to create an account to:

• Register new tartans;
• Request threadcount information;
• Receive notification of all new registered tartans and other news updates;
• Manage your account details;
• and Request official amendments.

[top of page]

Your tartan
Your tartan must meet the definition of tartan included in the Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008 and be unique to the Register.

For the purposes of the Register, the definition of 'tartan' is that contained within the Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008 Section 2: 'A tartan is a design which is capable of being woven consisting of two or more alternating coloured stripes which combine vertically and horizontally to form a repeated chequered pattern.'

Your tartan must be sufficiently different to all tartans already recorded in the Register so that it can be differentiated with the naked eye. In reaching a view, the Keeper may consult such persons as the Keeper considers appropriate.
[top of page]

Completing the tartan registration form

Tartan name
Each tartan submitted for registration in the Register must be named and the nature of the applicant's association with the name explained (Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008, section 6(7)(d)). The name chosen must be unique to the Register, i.e. it must differ from the names of all tartans already recorded (Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008, section 6(8)), and must be no more than 200 characters in length. The nature of the applicant's association with the chosen tartan name refers to his/her 'relationship to, connection with or interest in the name' (Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008, section 6(12)(b)). Evidence of an applicant's sufficient and substantial association with the name will be required - please see the table below for details of the authority required.

[top of page ]

Coloured Photograph or other pictorial representation
Your application to register a tartan must be accompanied by a coloured photograph or other coloured pictorial representation of the tartan (Scottish Register of Tartan Act 2008 Section 6(7)). This representation will be used to create as exact a representation of your tartan as possible via the online image presented in the Register.

It may be submitted in electronic form with your application by using the browse facility on the application form to select and attach the appropriate image from your files.

If you wish to submit an image which is not electronic, you will need to submit a hardcopy registration form. Please write your name and address and the name of the tartan on the reverse of the image and send it with your registration form to:

The Administrator
Scottish Register of Tartans
The National Archives of Scotland
HM General Register House
2 Princes Street
Edinburgh EH1 3YY

Open the hardcopy registration form - Acrobat PDF 157KB new window

Coloured photographs or other pictorial representations submitted with applications to register a tartan will be kept and preserved in the National Archives of Scotland (Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008 Section 4(2)(b)) and may be made available for inspection by members of the public (Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008 Section 4(3)(a)).
[top of page ]

A woven sample
We advise you to submit an application for registration before having your tartan woven, to check that it meets the criteria for registration.

After registration we would strongly encourage you to have your tartan woven and to send a sample for permanent preservation in the National Archives of Scotland. The sample should be a minimum of 18cms x 23cms (7 inches x 9 inches) or of sufficient size to show half a sett if that exceeds these measurements. 

The Keeper may, when sending a certificate of registration to an applicant or at any later time, request you to submit a woven sample (Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008 Section 9(6)).
[top of page ]

Threadcount
The threadcount indicates the colour stripes of the warp and weft in sequence and the number of threads in each stripe. It has been described as the DNA of a tartan.

Most tartan setts (patterns) are symmetrical. The threadcount indicates the sequence of colours and the number of threads of each colour required to make the pattern, starting from one pivot point and counting forwards until the second pivot point is reached. Having reached the second pivot point, the pattern is automatically reversed. Therefore, only the first half of the threadcount for a symmetrical pattern is required.

The threadcount is usually formatted as in the following example, with a letter representing the colour required and the number of threads listed beside:

K4 G24 K24 R2 B24 W4 B24 R2 K24 G24 (where K = Black G = Green R = Red B = Blue W = White)

[Threadcount over half a sett with full count at the pivots for Mitchell tartan from The Tartan Weaver's Guide, J D Scarlett (1985)]

Where a pattern does not reverse it is known as an asymmetrical pattern. There are no pivot points in an asymmetrical pattern: when reaching the end of the pattern, counting starts from the beginning again.

Traditionally an even number of each colour of threads is used in weaving tartan, to allow the shuttle to cross the loom and return for each colour. Many looms can weave a maximum of six colours and it is therefore advisable to restrict your design accordingly.

When submitting an application for registration, please include a threadcount in one of the following formats:

• For a symmetrical sett (pattern), please provide the threadcount over half a sett with a full count at the pivot points.
  
• For an asymmetrical sett, please provide the threadcount over the full sett.