The Scottish Register of Tartans explained: who runs it, what registration means, and which tartan you can wear

The short answer

The Scottish Register of Tartans is the official, statutory register of tartan designs. It was established by an Act of the Scottish Parliament in November 2008, launched on 5 February 2009, and is administered by the National Records of Scotland with advice from the Court of the Lord Lyon and representatives of the Scottish tartan industry.[1] Its main job is registering new tartan designs, and anyone, from anywhere in the world, can apply.[2] It does not decide who may wear a tartan: its own FAQ says there are no laws about which tartan you may wear, just traditions.[3]

What the law set up

The Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008 gives the register two purposes: to be a repository for the preservation of tartans, and to be a source of information about them. It must be kept in electronic form.[6] The Keeper, who must make it available to the public on a website or by other electronic means, is the Keeper of the Records of Scotland.[8] The register's About page records that the Act followed a Member's Bill introduced by Jamie McGrigor MSP in February 2007, and that the first tartan registered on launch day was the register's own, the Scottish Register of Tartans' Tartan, numbered STR #10000.[1]

The Act also defines the thing it registers. A tartan, for its purposes, is "a design which is capable of being woven consisting of two or more alternating coloured stripes which combine vertically and horizontally to form a repeated chequered pattern".[7] The register's FAQ adds that the pattern is traditionally called the sett and is traditionally woven in a 2/2 twill.[3]

Older tartans: inherited, not registered under the Act

Tartans were recorded before 2009, by three bodies the register names: the Scottish Tartans Society, the Scottish Tartans World Register and the Scottish Tartans Authority.[1] The Act lets the Keeper, with the consent of the owner of such an existing collection, make entries for its tartans in the register.[9] The register's database incorporates those older records, and its About page is frank about what that means: the merged database is still being checked, the earlier bodies applied different criteria for registration, and inaccuracies or lack of clarity may still exist in some records. All tartans registered since 5 February 2009, it says, comply with the criteria set out in the 2008 Act; it makes no such statement about the records it inherited.[1]

The fees page reflects the same line. A certificate of registration is issued for tartans registered since 5 February 2009, while a tartan recorded before that date can only have a Certificate of Inclusion.[5]

XTOUR's reading: a tartan appearing in the register's search results is not, on that fact alone, a tartan that passed the 2008 Act's tests. Its date of registration matters.

What registering a new tartan involves

According to the Scottish Register of Tartans' guidance, a new tartan must meet the Act's definition, be a new design unique to the register, and have a clear link between the person registering it and the proposed name. The applicant supplies a threadcount, an image and the name; the guidance advises applying before having the tartan woven.[4] The FAQ explains that the threadcount is compared with designs already registered and must be "sufficiently different" not to be easily confused with any of them.[3]

The naming rules are where clans come in. The register's FAQ says the name must be one the applicant has authority to use; that using a corporate, institutional or another person's name needs evidence of their agreement; that a new clan tartan must be approved by the clan chief; and that the Clan/Family category is reserved for historic Scottish clans and families as recognised by the Court of the Lord Lyon.[3]

The guidance says to allow four weeks for an application to be processed, that a successful applicant receives a certificate of registration, and that a refused applicant can ask the Keeper to reconsider within two months.[4] The application fee is set by a Fees Order made under the Act and is not refundable.[5] XTOUR does not publish the amounts.

What registration does not give you

Registration is not copyright. The register's FAQ says plainly that copyright is not devolved to Scotland, so including a tartan in the register does not protect the designer's intellectual property rights, and it points designers to the UK Intellectual Property Office.[3]

Nor does the register sell anything. Its FAQ says it does not produce or retail tartan, cannot recommend any supplier or retailer, and does not hold a list of kilt hire companies; for identifying a tartan, or finding which companies make a given design, it refers people to the Scottish Tartans Authority.[3] XTOUR names no shop, weaver or kiltmaker.

Which tartan can you wear?

The register's answer is short and worth quoting accurately. Traditionally, its FAQ says, people wear the tartan, if any, that relates to their surname; if there is no name tartan, they can look for a district tartan connected to the area where their ancestors lived; and there are tartans designed for anyone to wear. There is not a tartan for every name, even a Scottish one. Then the line that settles the question: "There are no laws about which tartan you may wear, just traditions."[3]

That is a real contrast with heraldry, the Court of the Lord Lyon's own field. The Court describes itself as Scotland's heraldic authority and says that using a coat of arms in Scotland that is not properly recorded in its Public Register is a criminal offence.[10] A clan chief's approval governs the registration of a new clan tartan; it does not, on the register's own account, govern who wears one.[3]

Using the register as a visitor

Searching the register needs no account; an account is needed to register designs, request threadcount information or request official amendments, among other things.[2] Its address is the National Records of Scotland at H.M. General Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh.[2] The Act allows the Keeper to let the public inspect documents connected with applications on payment of a fee,[8] and the fees page lists that service;[5] XTOUR has no information on how or when inspection is arranged.

Another Scottish tradition XTOUR explains is Highland games and the Braemar Gathering. For Scotland and the rest of the country, see the United Kingdom country page.