check out today's episode of the ancestral findings podcast to learn about the history
of Tartans and identify clans from around the world the Tarkan's are unique to their clans and
organisations if you're not a family historian you may not realize that there are many styles
of Tartans by looking at them some may believe they're simply attractive fabrics from Scotland's
history the truth is that Tartans have their own history they identify the person wearing
the colours and they even show where the person is from by looking at a tartan it's possible to
get the history of a clan even today's modern Tartans are still historically based what's
interesting about the Tartans is their extreme popularity there are generic tartan sold as plaid
and there are also Tartans registered all over the world for businesses US states and the military in
every case the tartan itself can specifically identify the person or organization wearing
it what exactly is a tartan tartan is a woven material it is usually woven out of wool and it
has stripes of various colors and with different breaths between them essentially a tartan looks
like it's plaid but there's much more to it than that when woven together a tartan appears to
have squares in the pattern and these squares are known as a set the set is the completed
pattern and is repeated throughout the length of the material when a tartan is ordered many
are made to order the professional weavers locked together the specific tartan for the clan member
or organization in question the weaving industry today still specializes in hundreds of Tartans and
can make new Tartans on request it's thought that Tartans first appeared to the west of northern
England that could be Western Britain itself or Ireland the first people to wear them would
have been Celtic the Celts kotti in particular who were known as the Scots and were based in
Ireland wore Tartans to identify themselves the first tartan discovered by historians is known
as the Falkirk tartan it is made of only two colors with a checkered pattern it was brown
and white just like this so a sheep which is native to Scotland it was not worn but used
for other purposes the age when that first tartan was discovered was around the 3rd century AD from
there it continued to grow in popularity among Royals and clans tartan has not always been known
as tartan but the word has developed over time the Gaelic language defines the word for tartan
as beech ttyn but the French word tire tain may be where the word actually comes from today the
French word describes materials of wool or linen mixes there are literally hundreds of Tartans in
existence today and they are very specific to their clans and the location of those clans for
instance the MacLean tartan for hunting is black white and green while the McDonnells tartan have
a triple striped tartan essentially the clans tartan is a uniform that all men and sometimes
women wore at least in some part of their outfits the key pattern book of 1819 discusses the exact
methods for weaving over 200 Tartans these may not have been original or historical patterns which
is why when some Tartans are sold today they're marked as modern Tartans for the families Tartans
are still being developed today interestingly in fact the Scottish register of Tartans in the
United Kingdom does allow new Tartans to be registered from around the world there
are hundreds of Tartans in existence but some of the most popular should be easy to identify if a
person is aware of the Tartans history here are some of the most common Tartans today the Royal
Stuart this is a red yellow white blue and black tartan and is one of the most recognizable in the
world those wearing it have a history of being in or are related to the House of Stuart the tartan
originated in the lowland clans of Scotland the Macdonald this tartan is green blue red black and
white it represents the Highland clan MacDonald of Clan Renauld in Scotland the clan MacLeod one
of the most recognizable for its bright yellow black and red design this is the tartan for the
McLeod Highland clan in Scotland the clan MacLean basic black white and green make up the tartan for
the clan MacLean in Scotland the clan Mackenzie this Highland clan has a creative tartan with
tight sets of blue and green blue green white and red adorn in this pattern the clan Buchanan
a simple white base with red sets and a black stripe creates this Highland clans tartan the
clan Douglas this lowland clan from Scotland has a simple black and gray tartan the clan Montgomery
the lowland clan has a two color tartan a blue and green the clan Cunningham black white and red make
up this lowland clans tartan the clan Rose this lowland clan has a tartan made up of blue white
red and green each clan has its own respective colors and even if they share colors the sets tend
to be in varying sizes what's interesting today is that many people have registered their own Tartans
from around the world for instance West Virginia University in the United States registered a gold
blue and white tartan the US Air Force pipe band has a red blue and yellow tartan registered and
Nevada the US state has registered a yellow blue and red tartan knowing the history of
Tartans can help you identify the people wearing them just as recognizing today's tartan colors
can there are various registries with photos to help identify tart knees from around the world
are you starting to look into your family's history on the next episode of the ancestral
findings I'll give you some information on naturalization and how the process has
changed throughout the years to learn more about genealogy and sign up for our weekly
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