New Texas Tartan

[macwilkin]

When I first saw the Texas Bluebonnet tartan, I thought "Oh, I'll have to get a kilt in that tartan." But once I saw a couple in person, I decided that overall impression was a bit soft, almost feminine, as it's very muted and overwhelmingly blue. I mean no offense to anyone who owns one. That's just my opinion. I wouldn't mind an alternate tartan, but this definitely isn't the one!

Take a look at the Houston Fire Department Pipes and Drums version of the Bluebonnet:

http://www.hfdpipes.com/HFD_Pipes_an...oppedImage.pdf

The Tartan

The tartan adopted by HFD Pipes and Drums is a variation of the Texas Bluebonnet tartan. The original Texas Bluebonnet Tartan was designed by June McRobertson and designated as the official tartan of Texas by the Texas State Legislature in 1986. The bluebonnet is the Texas State flower.

The pattern is reminescent of the colors and design of the bluebonnet, when looking down at the flower.

HFD Pipes and Drums has darkened the colors of the original design. We have designated this the Houston Texas Bluebonnet. HFD Pipes and Drums are the only group in the world to have officially adopted the Houston Texas Bluebonnet tartan.

In addition, our kilts and plaids are custom pleated. The pleat, referred to as the Houston Pleat, is pleated to the red line in the tartan.

-- http://www.hfdpipes.com/HFD_Pipes_an...s/History.html

T.

[RockyR]

Well that's certainly interesting. I hadn't heard that before, or hadn't been paying attention. Are you saying that our official state tartan is only able to be purchased through one company? I didn't see any restrictions on it in the tartan registry. That does indeed change the nature of the issue.

Yes... the tartan was designed and copyrighted and is owned by a little old gentleman in a nursing home. Frugal Corner had gotten permission to sell it. Scotland Forever (who had been selling it for YEARS not knowing it was actually copyrighted) eventually contacted the copyright holder and got SOLE permission to weave and sell the tartan (and Frugal Corner's rights were revoked). As I stated above, the owners of Scotland Forever are VERY nice people and good business people and are now the only ones with the permission to sell the Texas Bluebonnet tartan.

As an FYI, the register is indeed flawed for MANY tartans that are copyrighted / restricted. Many of ours that were registered before the creation of the register had to be amended to show the restrictions (I had to call / email them and ask for it b/c it wasn't shown properly).

But all the authentic traditional Scottish clan tartans were basically created that way, weren't they? Someone picked a sett because they liked the way it looked, and then someone else (in most cases) randomly assigned it to the clans. Now they have huge significance, not because of the meanings of the colours, but because of their adoption by a group and the subsequent association with that group.

I would agree that creating a new tartan and hoping to make it achieve that level of significance is more difficult today without that history behind it, but I don't think the majority of people are picking their tartans based on colour symbolism. There's no doubt that you have authoritative experience in designing and marketing tartans, and I certainly don't mean to challenge that experience, but as a consumer, I can't think of anyone who said to himself, "oh wow - that tartan has red for bravery, so I must have it!" It seems to me that people buy tartans because they either like the colour scheme because it looks good, or they want to associate with the group it represents. In other words, what makes a tartan design popular is either its visual appeal or its adoption by a group. Assigning philosophical significance to the different colours of the tartan seems to be more important to the designer than it is to the consumer. Obvious exceptions would be school colours or other tartans where the colours already have significance, and the tartan is designed around them.

That being the case, I would think the first step in making a new tartan popular is making it look good. When the members of an organisation adopt it or take to wearing it as their own, then the identity component starts to kick in. But if a tartan starts off ugly and never gains approval by the group it's supposed to represent, it will go nowhere.

Just food for thought, and hopefully an interesting conversation on the subject!

Yes, that's how many designs started. People just liked the designs and picked them based on that. That being said, it's much easier to get people "emotionally involved" in a tartan if there's a REASON for the colors / numbers chosen. I would respectfully disagree with you having seen many of our (own design) tartans sell. Heck... you'd be surprised how many people call up asking for the "343" tartan when they mean our Firefighters Memorial. It has 3 red, 4 red, 3 red stripes for the 343 firefighters that died on 9/11. That's symbolism that means a LOT to every firefighter I know.

There are also the Irish County Crest tartans which have their colors to reflect the colors in the crest for each Irish county. They have 'symbolism' which makes sense for them based on the collection (Irish County CREST tartan collection). It's not as 'corny' as some, but there is still meaning.

I also wholeheartedly agree that for a tartan to take off, it must look good. The colors can be brightened or softened (unless like you said it's a school color or something) and certain things can be done to make a tartan more or less appealing. I'll re-state what I did above as well... when it comes to this new design (the Lone Star State tartan), I think they missed the mark.

[RockyR]

Double Post... please remove

[ShaunMaxwell]

Cajunscot:

Take a look at the Houston Fire Department Pipes and Drums version of the Bluebonnet:

http://www.hfdpipes.com/HFD_Pipes_an...oppedImage.pdf

The Tartan

The tartan adopted by HFD Pipes and Drums is a variation of the Texas Bluebonnet tartan. The original Texas Bluebonnet Tartan was designed by June McRobertson and designated as the official tartan of Texas by the Texas State Legislature in 1986. The bluebonnet is the Texas State flower.

The pattern is reminescent of the colors and design of the bluebonnet, when looking down at the flower.

HFD Pipes and Drums has darkened the colors of the original design. We have designated this the Houston Texas Bluebonnet. HFD Pipes and Drums are the only group in the world to have officially adopted the Houston Texas Bluebonnet tartan.

In addition, our kilts and plaids are custom pleated. The pleat, referred to as the Houston Pleat, is pleated to the red line in the tartan.

-- http://www.hfdpipes.com/HFD_Pipes_an...s/History.html

That's definitely an improvement! Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

SM

[macwilkin]

To quote Kyle: "***" Rocky's post describing the reason behind colour symbolism in state tartans. It is interesting to note that the first district tartan in North America, the Nova Scotia, actually set this precedent. Back in 1953 the tartan was designed for a display at an agricultural exposition in Truro. It was thought that it was better to design a new tartan, symbolic of the province, than to chose one clan's tartan over others and risk offence, according to Teall and Smith's District Tartans.

T.

[macwilkin]

Assigning philosophical significance to the different colours of the tartan seems to be more important to the designer than it is to the consumer. Obvious exceptions would be school colours or other tartans where the colours already have significance, and the tartan is designed around them.

Respectfully disagree here in regards to state tartans, Tobus. I chose the Iowa state tartan because of the symbolism of Iowa, my ancestral home -- red for the state's barns, black and brown for the soil, etc. My Scottish ancestors chose to settle in Iowa after immigration, and the description of the state through the tartan's colors captured the state perfectly in my mind.

T.

[seanachie]

Yes... the tartan was designed and copyrighted and is owned by a little old gentleman in a nursing home. Frugal Corner had gotten permission to sell it. Scotland Forever (who had been selling it for YEARS not knowing it was actually copyrighted) eventually contacted the copyright holder and got SOLE permission to weave and sell the tartan (and Frugal Corner's rights were revoked). As I stated above, the owners of Scotland Forever are VERY nice people and good business people and are now the only ones with the permission to sell the Texas Bluebonnet tartan.

As an FYI, the register is indeed flawed for MANY tartans that are copyrighted / restricted. Many of ours that were registered before the creation of the register had to be amended to show the restrictions (I had to call / email them and ask for it b/c it wasn't shown properly).

Well the Texas legislature should get some blame for failing to adopt an official tartan in the public domain. I think that is pretty foolhardy. With the tartan controlled by one entity they can then dictate whatever price they want. You can say that is the free market, fine, but then don't adopt such a tartan as official. The Blue Bonnet story seemingly has many chapters, and is a muddled story.

I agree with your comments on the register as well. Kind of, in some ways, reminds me of ICANN and the issues with the domain registry. Many of those have been resolved now by in the past some of these were pretty egregious.

[RockyR]

Well the Texas legislature should get some blame for failing to adopt an official tartan in the public domain. I think that is pretty foolhardy. With the tartan controlled by one entity they can then dictate whatever price they want. You can say that is the free market, fine, but then don't adopt such a tartan as official. The Blue Bonnet story seemingly has many chapters, and is a muddled story.

I agree with your comments on the register as well. Kind of, in some ways, reminds me of ICANN and the issues with the domain registry. Many of those have been resolved now by in the past some of these were pretty egregious.

It's actually common practice. SEVERAL of the US States have official tartans which are only available through 1 source where it's 'private'. Rhode Island is controlled by the RI St. Andrews. Maine is private and copyrighted (just ask LL Bean who were sued over use of it and lost). Florida, New Jersey and Virginia are owned by "David McGill" and the "International Tartans" company (but that's a whole can of worms right there that I don't want to open... ask Matt Newsome about that guy).

That's also why the "German National" (AKA Ikleman #5) is not an officially recognized "national" tartan. The designer submitted it for approval to be considered "official" and was denied based on the fact that they (Germans) didn't want to favor 1 design over another. It is CALLED "German National" b/c the design and name were approved by the tartans authority before there were strict standards on what a tartan could / couldn't be called.

[brewerpaul]

Being a Native Texan I dont find the Texas Lone Star that attractive. Red is not my color for the most part and that tartan has too much red. I wont get into the discussion about national or regional adoption by a state and individual control of the tartan or of the meaning of the colors uses, though the yellow had me perplexed at first until I read about it. Im not sure I would add a color that was fringe on a flag, and not all flags have such fringe.

Myself I have a German Heritage "tank", the tartan designed by Rocky and sewn by Bonnie. I do like the colors and the meaning of the tartan because I am of German Heritage. It is a red, and not too much of it, that I can wear well and it does give me some identity not being Scottish or of a Scottish clan. With that in mind I looked at my own heritage which comes from Germany and settled in the Texas Hill Country in the 1800's. I have most my ancestors traced back to being Germans so Im pretty much no mutt. When I started wearing kilts I had my tank made of the German Heritage but I also wanted my own identity, or clan affiliation. With that in mind I created 2 tartans, of which neither have yet been weaved, and did use colors of German and Texas flags. Im not a big huge Nationalist but I do like my heritage as I find all the Scots here do. So the two I made are a dress tartan and a hunting tartan named for my name and my heritage.

Hoffman Texas German



Hoffman Texas German Hunting. I think this would be great in muted or ancient colors.





I do find it interesting why people choose the colors they do in newer tartans. I guess my choices were easy, it was just arranging them in a pleasant looking way. My thanks to Rocky for his fine design on the German Heritage, I wear it proudly.

[DougC]

I'm not a fan of the Bluebonnet tartan or the new Texas tartan-but, the legislature has spoken. The gold/yellow looks out of place in the Texas tartan. As for me, I'll stick with Campbell.