Missing Color in the Anderson Tartan

[IGA]

I am an Anderson, and have been proudly wearing a clan tartan (Modern) for over 5 years now. I have recently been exposed to several other Anderson kilts (also Modern) from various mills and noticed something peculiar... a lot of them are missing a color!

One of the things about the Anderson tartan that I understand is unique is that it uses 7 colors, while most tartans have 6 or fewer. In each case, they were missing one of the blues. The dominant color in the tartan is a lighter blue, often described as "azure," but there is a brighter, primary color blue that is less predominant, that is missing.

Is it even somewhat common for tartans to be missing a color entirely like this, or is this an odd quirk for the Andersons? Are there any other examples of this?

For what it's worth, mine has all 7 colors, so I'm not complaining!

[figheadair]

The Anderson is not unique in having seven colours and a few have more although a maximum of six colours used to be a limiting factor for much commercial cloth because of the type of automated loom widely used for much of the last century. A handloom weaver and some modern industrial looms are not so restricted although it has to be remembered that once one goes over six colours then the sett will invariably become very complex and technically more difficult to design to give a pleasing effect.

[IGA]

Thank you. That was very informative.

Though I've always felt the tartan was a touch busier than I like, I see the ones without that minor color, and they seem bland to me!