The Scottish Register of Tartans

The Scottish Register of Tartans was established by an act of the Scottish Parliament in November 2008, following a Member’s Bill submitted by Jamie McGrigor MSP in February 2007. The full text of the Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008 is available to read online.

Members of the Scottish Parliament voted to establish a single, independent Scottish register of tartans which promotes and preserves information about historic and contemporary tartans from Scotland and throughout the world.

The Register was launched on 5 February 2009 and the first tartan to be registered on that day was the Scottish Register of Tartans’ Tartan (STR #10000).

The Register is administered by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) with advice from the Court of the Lord Lyon and representatives of the Scottish tartan industry. The Keeper of the Records of Scotland and Registrar General for Scotland is also the Keeper of the Scottish Register of Tartans.

Prior to the establishment of the Register, tartans were recorded by the Scottish Tartans Society, the Scottish Tartans World Register and the Scottish Tartans Authority.

The Database

The Register database contains information on thousands of tartans, which can be freely searched.

It includes all tartans registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans since its introduction on 5 February 2009.

The database also incorporates tartans formerly recorded by the Scottish Tartans Society (STS), the Scottish Tartans Authority (STA) and/or the Scottish Tartans World Register (STWR).

The National Records of Scotland worked with the STA and the STWR to amalgamate their former databases into a single dataset for the Register. The resulting database is still being checked. Users are encouraged to email [email protected] if they discover any inaccuracies or discrepancies.

It should be noted that the STA and the STWR applied different criteria for registration. Not all tartans recognised by one organisation were recognised by the other and vice versa. Notes or background information made available for pre-existing tartans may derive from a variety of external sources. Every effort is being made to check and validate this information; however it is acknowledged that inaccuracies or lack of clarity may still exist in some of the records. The National Records of Scotland will continue to work with its tartan industry partners over the coming years to improve this information.

All tartans registered since 5 February 2009 comply with the criteria set out in the Scottish Register of Tartans Act 2008.

Media Queries

Journalists can contact the NRS Communications Team via email [email protected]. Members of the public should use the contact details below.

The National Records of Scotland

The National Records of Scotland is responsible for administering and running the Scottish Register of Tartans.

Documents relating to the history of tartan held in the National Records of Scotland

Informing the Future

NRS is responsible for running Scotland's Census. NRS collects, analyses and publishes official demographic statistics, drawn from the Census and other sources, to inform government policy on everything from health to housing and education. NRS provides research facilities, both in Edinburgh and online, for identifying records from public bodies such as the Scottish Government, the courts and the Scottish Parliament which are of permanent historical value and ensuring that these are added to the nation's archives.

Find out more about the National Records of Scotland.