Another thrift shop find

[CDNSushi]

And a slightly, better, closeup view with a better idea of the colours.

[figheadair]

Yet another pattern based on the Royal Stewart. As you suspect, a modern fashion tartan. The manufacturer quite possibly had a house name for it but we are in the dark.

[CDNSushi]

Once again, thank you for your insight. I am curious though.... are there many (any) three-colour tartans our there? Now it’s got me wondering what the min/max number of colours might be... :-)

[ShaunMaxwell]

Once again, thank you for your insight. I am curious though.... are there many (any) three-colour tartans our there? Now it’s got me wondering what the min/max number of colours might be... :-)

The Maxwell tartan is only three colors: red, green and black.



I’m sure there are probably others!

SM

[KnittedReenactor]

Please correct me if I am wrong here, but that actually looks like a 4-color sett to me. Namely blue, white, taupe or gray, dark brown or black; depending on screen settings. Still most likely just a fashion as the others have said.
There are a great number of tartans with minimal colors, the three coming to my mind first are Rob Roy McGregor (red & black), Scott Black & White, and the infamous Loud McLeod with but three colors.

[Tobus]

Tartan only requires two colours, in its very basic form. For example, Rob Roy MacGregor is only black and red.

Many tartans have only three colours. A few examples off the top of my head:

Black Watch is only black, blue, and green.
MacLeod, Wallace, MacQueen are only yellow, black, and red.

I'm sure the list of 3-colour tartans is quite long.

[Karl R]

I am curious though.... are there many (any) three-colour tartans our there?

Too many to conveniently count. In addition to those previously mentioned (and off the top of my head):
Irish Heritage (black, green, white)
Renwick (black, green, red)
several Rothesay variants (red, green, white)
Clark/Clergy (blue, black, white) with two other three-color variants (black, blue, light blue) or (blue, black, green)

Now it’s got me wondering what the min/max number of colours might be... :-)

Minimum: two. In addition to Rob Roy, you also have Northumberland / Falkirk / Border / Shepherd check (black & white), plus some variants on that.

Maximum: you probably hit a law of diminishing returns, rather than a hard maximum. I've seen a number of very attractive tartans with six (i.e. Black Stewart, Isle of Skye, Maple Leaf). I wouldn't be surprised if there were some attractive tartans out there with seven or eight colors. There may be some less attractive tartans with significantly more ... as people may have designed and registered them just to prove it could be done.

[figheadair]

As others have said, the list of three colour tartans is quite long and, like Ross, some early versions of the Tullibardine etc., complex.

Having more that six colours is less common, more that seven more so but there are some 18th century patterns that fit the bill.

[CDNSushi]

Thank you all for the replies. It’s all very interesting. Now I found myself wondering, that if I were to create a tartan with only two colours, would I try to counterbalance it with a more complex pattern? I may have to spend some time with a tartan design tool for fun later...

[KnittedReenactor]

Go for it! And share too!
I know Rocky has one on his site that I have played with a few times, its free.
My vote is for a more intricate pattern. Otherwise you would just have another simple check, with colors someone else has probably already done.