How many Colquhoun tartans are there?

[Steve Ashton]

Perhaps the best way to search Tartans is to go to the Govt. of Scotland "Scottish Register of Tartan".

You can search a-z, by color, date, designer etc.

https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/search

There are around 12,000 Tartans. All have some name. But a regional, corporate or even a fashion Tartan is just as real as one with a family name. And name is not all you look at. For example someone can carry the name Campbell and not be part of the Campbell Highland Clan. It really depends on where your people come from.

The vast majority of Scots lived in the cities and the lowlands. These people were not part of the Highland Clan system, may not have worn kilts, and may not have had a Tartan.


Now, about this naming thing. It all comes down to the fabric weaving companies.

See, when we design a Tartan we may say something like - "So many yarns of Green, followed by so many yarns of Black" For the Green we use the letter "G". It does not always specify which color Green.

So - One weaver chose to use the deep, vivid colors produced by the modern aniline dyes and call this the "Modern" color version.
They also change the colors to simulate what this Tartan may have looked like if using natural dyes and call this version "Ancient"
They then change the colors again to simulate what the Tartan may have looked like if left out in the sun and faded for many years and call this version "Weathered".

And yet all of these versions are the same thread count - so the exact same Tartan.