Well it has been a hectic month or two but we are now on our feet. Hopefully you’ll have seen some of the sizeable press that we have had, though if you did miss any of it do not fear as we will be compiling all our features in a forthcoming news bulletin – and there has really been some good news.
Though for this update we felt that we could illustrate the universal appeal of tartan and how we are leading its development as a real symbol for local identity. Over year since the Halesowen and Black Country tartans went official London is following in our footsteps by launching a competition for their first official plaid. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8385102.stm
Our designer, Philip Tibbetts, has already been hard at work thinking up a design for the capital and we will of course reveal his proposal on here after the deadline for submissions has closed at the end of the year. Though for those of you eager to join in the fun here is a link to the Scottish Tartan Authorities online design tool, and is amazing how much time can pass when you begin tinkering! http://www.tartansauthority-shop.com/croftweaver/index.html#
Finally we can report that Philip also sprang into action after the Scotsman newspaper reported in its coverage of this story, that no town in England had a dedicated tartan. Which of course we all know to be untrue on this site! His letter in reply was published here http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/English-tartan.5879228.jp though it is heavily edited to fit into the newspaper. So to leave you for this news update we can, exclusively for Heartland Heritagewear, reprint Philip’s original letter:
I am writing with regard to Frank Urquhart’s article of the 28th November called “Have we got trews for you? No, Boris it’s a London kilt” in order to correct a little piece of information as well as offer my opinion on the story.
The article in question states that “until now, not one English town or city has had a tartan specifically crafted in its honour”. Admittedly there are not a lot of English town/city tartans but I know for a fact that the noble town of Halesowen in the Black Country has an official tartan – because I designed and registered it and have made it available to the public at. I am also designing tartans for other towns in the Midlands based on the success that the Halesowen tartan has achieved
From my research I believe that Durham, Berwick, Tweedmouth, Norham & Ladykirk and Sheffield have registered tartans and both Carlisle and York have tartans which have come to represent them over time, albeit in a semi-official capacity at best. Whilst the article does not mention counties it is still worth considering that there are also a fair few official English county tartans (like Black Country, Somerset, Devon) as well as Northumbrian tartan which is the oldest known tartan design.
Other than that I think that the story is great and I fully support the wider adoption of tartan as a medium. After all flags are not seen as exclusively Chinese nor coats of arms as exclusively Italian so whilst tartan can quite rightly be seen as having a strong association with Scotland it need not be exclusively so. Indeed, as with my previous examples I cannot see a reason why communities, counties and countries around the world could not have a representative tartan as it is such a versatile symbol. Not only can it be worn but it can be used as a subtle and tasteful way of promoting identity – for instance the way the University of St Andrews uses their tartan as a stage dressing for its graduation ceremonies. Tartan has been said to be Scotland’s gift to the world and I certainly believe that it has every right to be considered a heraldic art and as valid a symbol as any other. However, some people feel that competitions like this feel cheesy and wonder if that’s all Scotland is good for, but by spreading its wings tartan will transcend such cheesiness and become a truly noble symbol that adds prestige to countries across the world and in doing so to its homeland as well. That is why I am looking forward to creating a design to submit in this competition!
Tags: heartland, heritagewear, London, philip tibbetts, tartans