Virginia Tartan

[bikeolounger]

As I live in Kentucky, I've been watching the discussion of the KY tartan. I find it a little colorful for my taste in tartans, but still likable enough that it would be on the long list of tartans I'd have made into a kilt if my bank accounts showed LARGE positive numbers.

It got me thinking, however (always dangerous), about a Virginia tartan. I consider myself as being from Virginia, since both my parents were born in the Tidewater region and met in Williamsburg, and I lived there for most of my first eleven years.

Sure enough, there is a Virginia tartan. I've only seen two images of it online, though, and there is a big difference in the color values between the representations when viewed from one monitor. They appear to be the same tartan, but I am wondering which is closer to the real thing.

The two sites are:

http://internationaltartans.com/page5.html

http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Virgi..._virginia.html

Any help from the experts would be greatly appreciated!

[Galician]

Have you gone to the Scottish Tartan Authority website to check? If not, do so, and look for the "tartan ferret," which is the site's search engine

[bikeolounger]

The only one I could find there was a State tartan, which was TOTALLY different than the Quadricentennial one referred to above.

[Galician]

Lucky you! You get TWO state tartans from which to choose!

[SFCRick]

Both of these tartans are understated almost muted looking, might make a nice kilt

[M. A. C. Newsome]

First, I would encourage caution regarding anything on the International Tartans web site. Not the most reputible of sources out there.

Secondly, the Scottish Tartans Authority doesn't seem to have this particular Virginia tartan in their index. Which is neither here nor there, but it does limit the amount of information available. From what I could ascertain from the state symbols web site you linked to, it seems that this could, at best, be regarded as "a" Virginia tartan, but certainly not "the" Virginia tartan.

Truth is Virginia has no officially recognized state tartan. To quote from the state symbols web site you cited:

Originally created to market a range of products in 2003 including Kinmount Scotch Whisky, by 2005 the name of the tartan had changed to Virgina, and again in 2006 to Virginia Quadricentennial (to celebrates the first settlers arrival in the New World in 1607 at Jamestown Virginia).

It would seem from this information that the tartan was originally created for a purpose quite other than being a state tartan. I'm not sure why it came to be regarded as such, the web site doesn't really offer any reason for the change.

The STA does have another Virginia tartan, this one designed earlier, by Andrew Elliot of Elliots of Galashiels (Scotland). I don't know the date, but the STA record I'm looking at was created April 2002, so it would have to precede the above Virginia tartan. This latter one is a very complicated design and was inspired by the colors he saw on a trip through the Shennendoah Valley. This can be regarded as a fashion tartan named for Virginia. You can see it on the STA web site.

As I said, VA has no official state tartan. If you don't like one, wear the other! If you don't like either one, move to NC and wear the Carolina tartan! lol....

M

[Riverkilt]

Couldn't hurt to check with that Scottish shop there in Williamsburg and see if they have any suggestions.

Ron

[Mael Coluim]

I'm not especially fond of either. Virginia cries for an official tartan!

[Jerry]

I'm not especially fond of either. Virginia cries for an official tartan!

I definitely agree with you on this one. We need a state tartan. We have a state dog, state drink(milk?) a state boat, and even a state fossil, but no official state tartan. I think it way past time for Virginia to have its own tartan. See the link below for Virginia state symbols:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/virginia/