The Declaration Tartan

[Thekiltedmohawk]

I just stumbled into this on my Facebook, and thought I'd share it with you.

The 'Declaration of Scottish Independence,
Arbroath 1320'
The tartan's full, and complete rationale ...see below
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So here it is...
The Declaration tartan, inspired exactly One Year ago! From a wee spark of an idea, and revealed as a conceptual design mid August 2014! After a whirlwind of astounding, and unbelievable support ...and encouragement ...the tartan was registered as an official commemorative Scottish tartan... and this ONLY with the approval (sought for and granted) by the Scottish Government. Registered on the Observance of St. Andrew's Day - 1st December 2014 the tartan was ratified and made official as a new Scottish tartan.
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The tartan has since then been developed in collaboration with one of Scotland's finest tartan mills, Bute Fabrics Ltd ...on the Isle of Bute. This developmental process saw the tartan evolve ...it's essence being transformed from the initial design into the actual pure wool yarns, and a palette of 7 colours which in theory should simply not work together...
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...in hindsight though, I now think they were destined to come together! ...as a complete, and unified arrangement of colours and geometry. Becoming a weave to represent everything that is Scottish... A seven colour tartan to celebrate Scotland's past, present ...and in time it's future. Commemorating seven centuries of our land's ongoing evolution to greater freedoms ...and independence.

The Declaration tartan in now complete...
The Tartan Artisan
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Please do bear with me, the tartan is still in the early stages of product development ...and availability as fabric.

[I'm interested in business partnerships to potentially develop the tartan further, feel free to get in touch, here]
inquiries at:
steve@theTartanArtisan.com
The tartan is UK IPO Registered Design: No 4036938

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The tartan's full, and complete rationale:

THE DECLARATION OF SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE, ARBROATH 1320
(full ratified name)
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THE PAST...

13 red threads ...and 20 yellow threads ...represent the year 1320 the year the Declaration of Arbroath was sealed. The colours and geometry also portraying the Royal Standard of Scotland historically known as the Banner of King Robert the Bruce ...the King of Scots. The red pivot thus represent the courageous Lion Rampant and Scotland's ongoing fight for freedom.

7 yellow threads and 7 black threads represents the famous legend of Bruce and the Spider, an ancient tale of triumph over adversity through self belief and perseverance. “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again".

The size of the sett (329 threads) acts as a memorial for the life and death of King Robert the Bruce 'Scotland's Hero King', who died in 1329.

The green and purple shades in the tartan (with the red stripe) represent the ancient battlefields and blood stained heather moorlands of Scotland ...the free land that the Scots of old fought for, and paid for with their lives. The green khaki shades also alluding to the Declaration of Arbroath parchment itself.

AN ANCIENT SALTIRE... The white pivot in the tartan as combined with the azure blue creates a visual representation of the ancient Scottish Saltire. The official flag of Scotland, thought to be the oldest continuously used sovereign flag in the world having been in use since 832 AD. Also known as Saint Andrew's Cross the Saltire, as represented in the tartan, also pays tribute to the ancient legend of a white cloud miraculously appearing in the shape of a cross in a bright blue sky ...which became a hopeful symbol of a bright future for Scotland.

The white and blue together are designed to accurately represent the proportions of the Saltire, the white bar being one-fifth of the width of the blue field.
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THE PRESENT...

20 dark red threads ...with 14, 6 and 4 dark blue threads represent the date 2014 6th April, the date the tartan was first inspired. This date also being significant as Tartan Day in the year of Homecoming Scotland 2014.

The tartan's year of creation and registration also marks a pivotal moment in Scotland's history, the date of the Scottish Referendum on Independence 2014. The tartan acknowledges this historic moment in time ...and notes the nation's democratic right to choose independence, or remain united with the Kingdom of Great Britain. The tartan also pays tribute to the 700th anniversary year of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

The dark red then acts as a present day remembrance for the thousands of Scots who died in their fight for freedom during the ancient Wars of Scottish Independence, the colour representing their shed blood.

The Declaration tartan was ratified as an official tartan, with consent given from the Scottish Government, on the 1st December 2014 ...the Observance of St. Andrew's Day.
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THE FUTURE...

4 and 6 blue threads ...with 20 dark red and 20 white threads represents the future date of April 6th 2020. The tartan then contemplates Scotland's future, anticipating the forthcoming 700th anniversary of the sealing of the Declaration of Arbroath, taking place on April 6th 2020.

The seven colour Declaration tartan will thus then in time celebrate 7 centuries of Scotland's ongoing evolution towards greater freedoms and independence.

THE MYTHICAL UNICORN... The solid white square becomes the balancing point within the weave, paying tribute to the powerful & mythical Unicorn of Scotland ...our nation's national animal. Chained (as being a fierce and dangerous beast if ever freed) the heraldic unicorn represents everything that is noble, innocent, joyful and pure.

The Declaration Tartan
...Celebrating Scotland's past, present ...and future

https://www.facebook.com/theTartanArtisan?fref=photo

[figheadair]

Suggest that this should be in the Tartan Place rather than General Kilt Talk.

[Nathan]

It really reminds me of the Nova Scotia tartan, and for good reason. Both drew upon the Saltire and the Royal Flag of Scotland for their inspiration.

Declaration tartan:
http://www.the-declaration-of-arbroa...unframed.html#




Nova Scotia tartan




http://www.novascotia.ca/playground/tartan.asp

[Tenmiles]

I'm personally not a big fan of the color palette (visual aesthetics only), but the gradient effect is rather interesting and unique.

[davidlpope]

Seems like a money making scheme. Do we really need another universal tartan that will be abandoned in a few years?

[The Q]

Sorry to me it's:
A, yet another money making Scheme.
B, A propaganda sheet for the SNP, who happen to be the government in power in Scotland they asked.

Apart from that I think the colours clash and I don't like it.

[OC Richard]

I rather like the new tartan from an aesthetic standpoint. Looking forward to seeing a kilt made up in it.



It's tough to take something else, such as a flag, and turn it into pleasing woven fabric. Combining two flags is harder yet, but somehow it all works for me.

My only quibble is that of 'scale', the very fine lines which give those portions an un-tartan-like look. One sees it in fashion plaid fabric all the time, fine lines giving the illusion of the edges being blurred, like this



Traditional tartans always seem to have a certain consistency of scale.

It does take the symbolism thing (which was originally not a part of tartan design) to new absurd heights. Even the number of threads have symbolism? What if it's woven in a bigger or smaller sett? And "mythical unicorn"? Oh dear.

Yes I see that Nova Scotia uses the same elements, yet the two tartans look quite different to me.

Oddly, just today I was looking at various renderings of the Nova Scotia tartan and noticing that in some the red line is very fine, so that from a distance the tartan looks mostly blue & gold, but on others the red line is thick making the tartan look blue & orange.

BTW I notice on the two examples of Nova Scotia shown above one has the red line centered, the other offcenter.

[Nathan]

I rather like the new tartan from an aesthetic standpoint. Looking forward to seeing a kilt made up in it.



It's tough to take something else, such as a flag, and turn it into pleasing woven fabric. Combining two flags is harder yet, but somehow it all works for me.

My only quibble is that of 'scale', the very fine lines which give those portions an un-tartan-like look. One sees it in fashion plaid fabric all the time, fine lines giving the illusion of the edges being blurred, like this



Traditional tartans always seem to have a certain consistency of scale.

It does take the symbolism thing (which was originally not a part of tartan design) to new absurd heights. Even the number of threads have symbolism? What if it's woven in a bigger or smaller sett? And "mythical unicorn"? Oh dear.

Yes I see that Nova Scotia uses the same elements, yet the two tartans look quite different to me.

Oddly, just today I was looking at various renderings of the Nova Scotia tartan and noticing that in some the red line is very fine, so that from a distance the tartan looks mostly blue & gold, but on others the red line is thick making the tartan look blue & orange.

BTW I notice on the two examples of Nova Scotia shown above one has the red line centered, the other offcenter.

Good eye on the off centre red. I'll have to look at my woven stuff at home to see which is more common. I just grabbed those examples from the internet.

Obviously the addition of the green in Nova Scotia is one thing that makes it rather different.

I actually quite like the look of the tartan and that there's a history lesson baked in. I'm inclined to agree with David that the world doesn't "need" another universal tartan but I like that people continue to make tartans for various and sundry causes.

I also like the use of symbolism of colour choice in regional tartans in particular (although I admit the thread count pushes it due to inevitable sett variations). The reason I think it's important to draw on symbolism like this is that you have to justify the tartan as a symbol of the people or place you're naming it after. Using elements characteristic of the people, existing totems or topography of a place is a great way for the people to take ownership of and endorse a tartan design. I cite the Cape Breton tartan as a case in point. Historically, tying colours to a clan tartan wasn't necessary for its adoption when Wilson's of Bannockburn and the Hay Sobiesky Stuart brothers were assigning clans to tartans because they were pushing the mythology of an established history to back it up. Obviously, this point doesn't address tartans lifted from found cloth or famous portraits.

[AFS1970]

I have to say the picture of actual cloth looks much better than the picture of the tartan that is just a picture (with an unpleasant optical illusion effect for me). I have to agree with Richard that the fine lines take away from the general look of the tartan, but overall it is not bad.

[Sir Didymous]

I'm quite fond of it. Being a medievalist, I like the inclusion of heraldic themes. My love of symbolism does stop at the thread count. That seems excessive. As for the colors; I like the contrast. I've seen enough blue/green, blue/violet, red/black, and so-on, in universal tartans to make my eyes glaze over.

Yes, I know that I wear three blue/green based tartans. However, one is the Ferguson tartan, and one does not pick one's clan based on it's tartan. Besides, I wear the weathered colors.