Scottish Tartans Society - Creation and Closure

Creation and Closure

The Scottish Tartans Society was first formed in 1963, by several scholars of tartan and highland dress, with the encouragement of the Lord Lyon King of Arms. The society set out to preserve and record every woven tartan known, including clan tartans and artifacts from several museums and private collections. The society also strove to promote the research into highland dress, and to assist in the designing of new tartans. It was also a recognised charity, under Scots law. The society's register of tartans was known as the Register of All Publicly Known Tartans. This register was originally a physical collection, consisting of tartans and fabrics. Later, however, the register was eventually transferred to computer in the form of an electronic database. In 1976, the society was accounted as an "Incorporation Noble in the Noblesse of Scotland", being granted a coat of arms by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. In 1988, the society established a museum of tartan and highland dress in Highlands, North Carolina, USA. In 1994, the museum moved to Franklin, North Carolina, where it exists today. In 1996, several members of the society left to create their own organisation, called the Scottish Tartans Authority, or (STA). The Scottish Tartans Society ran into financial difficulties and ceased to record new tartan designs around the year 2000. By this time, about 2,700 tartans had been recorded by the society. Among the tartans recorded by the society are clan or family, district, individual, commemorative and various other tartans. The society is now defunct.