Catholic Tartan

[M. A. C. Newsome]

"Catholic" means "Universal" so wear whatever tartan you want! lol...

Seriously, no there is no specific "Catholic" tartan. There is not, to my knowledge, any tartans that identify religions or denominations as a whole. There is the Clergy tartan, which is an occupational tartan for those in the ministry, but which is not specific to any particular church. (I've heard some refer to this as the "Presbyterian" tartan, but this is due to the fact that the only time they saw it was being used by a Presbyterian minister or displayed in a Presbyterian church -- so this is a modern misconception).

Since the earliest records we have of the Clergy tartan refer to is as the "Priest" tartan, one could argue that it was used more by Catholic or Anglican clergy than Presbyterian. However, in fact it has never been assigned to a particular sect.

There is an Episcopal Clergy tartan, a modern variation of the traditional Clergy tartan. STA notes read: "Designed and copyrighted by Rev. John B. Pahls, 1966, to honor the clergy of the Scottish Episcopal church and of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and to commemorate the bicentenary of the death of the Right Reverend Samuel Seabury, first American bishop." So strictly speaking this is still an occupational tartan (clergy), just for a specific denomination, rather than unviersal clergy.

Some specific churches have their own tartan. For instance, Trinity Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville, NC, recorded their own tartan in 2006.

There is a tartan recorded under the name "Methodist Church" that was designed by the House of Edgar in 2005. The STA records for this are fairly scarce. This might be considered a "denominational" tartan, however, I think when I looked into this for someone last year I discovered that it was actually designed for a specific church, so I'll have to hold off making any definite statements about that one.

Generally there is not a tradition of people wearing a tartan to identify with their religion. People generally have worn tartans to say, "This is my family," or "this is the place I am from," or maybe, "this is the place my family was from," or "this is my regiment" or "this is my job," etc. There is no reason why there couldn't be a tartan to represent a religion, mind you. It's just not something that has been done in the past.

The same rules would apply as with any tartan. For the tartan to truly be "official" it would have to have the approval of a governing body. In the case of the Catholic Church, if the intent was to have the tartan be for the whole Church, it would need to have Vatican approval. Anything less, and it would have to be considered a "fashion" tartan (keep in mind some very successful tartans are, strictly speaking, fashion tartans, because of lack of authorization -- for instance, the Leatherneck tartan for the USMC). I don't even want to think of what all might be involved in getting Vatican approcal for a universal Catholic tartan! It would certainly be easier to get approval for a diocesan tartan, or a tartan for a particular association or group, such as the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Daughters of the Americas, or some such.

And I guess the big question would be, is there a need for a "Catholic" tartan? I know many kilt-wearing Catholics, even Catholic priests, and they tend to wear their family tartans. The current cheif of Clan Lamont is a priest!

And there are many tartans that one could give a Catholic signifigance to if one desired. Keep in mind the true signifigance of tartans lies in the meaning they hold to the wearer. My patron saint (whose name I took at confirmation) is Columba. When I wear the St. Columba tartan, I do so in his honor, despite the fact that the tartan was actually designed for the St. Columba (Anglican) Church on Mull! Once could wear the St. Patrick tartan, St. Piran tartan, or St. Andrews tartans with similar sentiments.

By the way, St. Kilda is the name of an island, whose name actually originated in a mis-translation. There is no such saint!

Aye,
Matt

[pipesndrumsnun]

Hmmm...we have the official papal colors...yellow and white;
we have the colors of the liturgical year...green, violet (purple), red, white, and two days of "rose" thrown in there for good measure (one in Advent and one in Lent)...if there isn't a Catholic tartan, per se, we certainly have lots of options for the design!!

[Ozman1944]

Thanks Matt; Always enlightening. I wear the Irish National for my Patron St. Patrick (Confirmation).

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I've often toyed with the idea of rendering the traditional Clergy tartan in various liturgical colors, for use during the different seasons of the year.

But of course during the liturgy the clergy are properly vested, anyway, so the kilt wouldn't be seen! And blue is just such a nice Marian color for general use, why mess with success!?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Ozman1944,

Do I take it from your screen name that you are Australian? If so, did you know that the Australian tartan was based off of the MacQuarrie clan tartan in honor of Gov. Lachlan MacQuarie? I don't know the faith of the governor himself, but I did read in a MacQuarrie clan history I have that he contributed to the building of the first Catholic church in New South Wales!

:-)
M

[Ozman1944]

Am not sure, but am aware of the Oz Tartan, (pity Stillwater doesn't have it). There is also an Australian Millenium; lots of red/white/blue as opposed to the Tan shades of the former.
Capt. Bligh (Governor) bult an Anglican Church and forced the Irish Catholics to attend protestant Services. They rioted and burnt the place down. I think Mac Quarrie was possibly placating the mob. But Catholic he could've been; there were a lot of Catholic Scots. Australia's first Saint (Blessed Mary of the Cross/McKillop) was Australian born. Her parents Immigrated, met & Married in Melbourne. Her mother was a MacDonald.
"My" Stewarts (great Grandparents) were staunch Presbyterians - but would never explain an old photo of a Good Shepherd Nun in their family album. (?)

[pipesndrumsnun]

By the way, Mcmath...
WELCOME from Flint, Michigan!!!

[Tattoo Bradley]

Thanks Matt; Always enlightening. I wear the Irish National for my Patron St. Patrick (Confirmation).

Why not wear the St. Patrick tartan? Eh?

[macwilkin]

Hmmm...we have the official papal colors...yellow and white;
we have the colors of the liturgical year...green, violet (purple), red, white, and two days of "rose" thrown in there for good measure (one in Advent and one in Lent)...if there isn't a Catholic tartan, per se, we certainly have lots of options for the design!!

Such a tartan could be used by a number of liturgical churches, including my own Anglican branch of Christendom. (of course, we use Sarum blue for Advent these days!)

T.

[TheKiltedWonder]

My patron saint (whose name I took at confirmation) is Columba. When I wear the St. Columba tartan, I do so in his honor, despite the fact that the tartan was actually designed for the St. Columba (Anglican) Church on Mull!

Actually, that's my confirmation name as well. And a new tartan goes on the list...sigh...