Quote Originally Posted by chewse View Post
Adding to Matt's thoughts, are there "hard and fast" rules/restrictions/criteria in the determination of whether a new tartan pattern is allowed to be officially registered? Does the registration of a new tartan tend to be a slam dunk for the person submitting the application?
The registration procedure is laid out at http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/index.aspx , but these are the grounds for refusal:

Refusal of application

Under the terms of the Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008 Section 7(2)(a), the Keeper must refuse to register a tartan (a) if the applicant's association with the name of the tartan is insufficient or insubstantial, or
(b) if the name of the tartan is undesirable i.e. in the view of the Keeper the name is likely to mislead the public as to the true nature of the purposes of the person/body registering it, or is deemed to be frivolous or offensive.
(c)It is not possible to register a tartan name which is greater than 200 characters in length.