Opinions on a couple of tartan designs.

[Sir Didymous]

My reenactment troop will be celebrating 10 years in January of 2015. For some groups 10 years isn't much a cause for big celebrations, but being the only reenactment society in a community that for the most part thinks we're just whack jobs with weapons that they seem to think are illegal (a detail that the local police are more than happy to clear up when the inevitable phone calls come in), is a big deal to us. We were trying to figure out a way to mark the occasion and someone (Dame Latitia I think) threw out the idea of registering a tartan. Now we have a range of cultures and periods that our troop will do (we have become quite adaptable being the only show in town and the only one in the county with high standards of accuracy), but none of them fall past 1350ish. Then our main focal point is 1290's English, so the idea of tartans is rather absurd, much less kilting. However the case was made that our troop doesn't only reenact, but we work within the community to promote chivalric ways of life. Many of us are proud of our affiliation with the Order, as we call it, and try to find ways to show it whenever dressed for anything fancier than work. The men usually wear the badge of the group as a lapel pin or other such item, and the women use them like brooches. None of us really feel that that draws enough attention to the group. So the idea of having a tartan for uses other than reenacting suddenly made more sense. Many of the men in the group wear kilts for dress attire and all of the women have taken to using shawls or wraps. So what better way to show our pride and celebrate the decade mark? We have a couple of designs, one standard and one hunting variation on it. Before I move forward as the Statutory Agent and begin the registration process, I would like to get a few educated opinions on the design. The colors in the standard version are the same as those used on our coat of arms and hold the symbolic meanings as follows: Gold: the Nobility of our cause, White: the purity of our intent, Red: the courage and strength it takes to live a chivalric life, and Black: the solemnity of our vows. The idea was to echo the red Jerusalem cross with a gold outline that we use as our badge.
Standard: For use by anyone who promotes Chivalry

Hunting: For use only by members of the Most Noble Order of the Rouse Clan (name of the troop)