District
New York City Tartan Week
We are delighted to collaborate with New York City Tartan Week as the official stockist of the New York City Tartan Week Tartan. 20% of all sales in the collection goes directly to the National Tartan Day New York Committee, the organisers of New York City Tartan Week.
The tartan is inspired by the three organisations who inaugurated the parade and features colours from New York city's own flag as well as the Star Spangled Banner & Scottish Saltire.
New York City Tartan Week Tartans
1 variationsEach tartan can have multiple variations, the most common of which are Ancient, Modern, Weathered, Hunting and Dress
About tartan variations
- Ancient
- Modern
- Weathered
- Hunting
- Dress
Ancient Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans, mossy greens and sky blues, a more orangey red and some would say showing off the pattern to much greater effect as as the contrasts are much brighter than the Modern tartans. The pattern or sett remains the same across all variations of a single tartan, and only the shades or tones vary.
Helpful Advice
Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.
Modern Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans. Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.
Helpful Advice
The Modern tartans are often the more subtle combinations such as the classic Black Watch Modern
Weathered Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer, more earthy colours typical of the Weathered tartans, reminiscent of bolder colours subjected to wind, rain and sunshine producing beautiful faded tones, olive greens and browns, and very light blues with reds that are more pink than red.
Helpful Advice
Some mills refer to the Weathered tartans as Muted.
Hunting Tartan
The Hunting Tartans are the camouflage tartans and some clans don't have these variations because they are already predominantly green or brown and don't need amendment to blend in with nature's colours. The Black Watch or Gunn tartans are examples of these, whereas a tartan such as the Fraser is predominantly red and would not provide much cover for men out hunting.
Helpful Advice
One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if you need an exact match we suggest you order a swatch to double check.
Dress Tartan
The Dress Tartans were designed as the name suggests for celebrations and highland dance. The sett or pattern of the tartan remains the same and the main colour is changed to white, or extra white is added to the pattern to give it a brighter, more "fancy" appearance. The Scots do like to bend the rules and occasionally instead of white thread, yellow is used and this is where the rather wild MacLeod Dress Modern and Barclay Dress Modern came from.
Helpful Advice
One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if you need an exact match we suggest you order a swatch to double check.
From the start
New York City Tartan Week Tartan Origins & History
1999
The First New York City Tartan Day Parade
In 1999, two pipe bands and a small but enthusiastic group of Scottish Americans, led by Grand Marshal and Academy Award-winning actor Cliff Robertson, marched from the British Consulate to the UN in the first New York City Tartan Day Parade. Since then, the annual NYC Tartan Day Parade has brought together thousands of people from across NYC, the United States, and Scotland by providing meaningful connections through the celebration of Scottish heritage and culture.
National Tartan Day New York Committee
In 2002 The National Tartan Day New York Committee was formed to organise the Parade and co-ordinate all the associated activities which surround the Parade. There are now so many events surrounding the Parade it has become NYC Tartan Week!
ScotlandShop & New York City Tartan Week
Scotland Shop has proudly partnered with New York City Tartan Week for the 2023 NYC Tartan Day Parade! 20% of every sale in the New York Tartan Day Parade tartan goes directly to the National Tartan Day New York Committee, the organisation behind the NYC Tartan Day Parade.
New York City Tartan Day Parade Tartan
The centerpiece of the New York City Tartan Parade is 6th Avenue, represented within the tartan design by 6 grey stripes. The six-lane avenue is bordered by green for the city's many trees and parks and the white lines represent the three organisations who inaugurated the parade, the St Andrew's Society of the State of New York, New York Caledonian Club and the American Scottish Foundation founded in 1756, 1856 and 1956 respectively, with all three organisations having 56 in common this is represented by 56 threads within the small blue square. Finally, the colours of three important flags are represented in the asymmetric design: the blue, white and orange of New York city's own flag; the red, white and blue of the Star Spangled Banner; and the blue and white of the Scottish Saltire.
New York City Tartan Day Parade Grand Marshals
- 1999 Cliff Robertson – Academy Award-winning Actor
- 2002 Sir Sean Connery – Academy Award-winning Actor
- 2005 Randall Wallace – Academy Award-nominated Screenwriter of “Braveheart”
- 2006 Brigadier Melville Jameson – Producer, Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (1994-2006)
- 2007 Rt.Hon. George Reid – Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament (2003-2007)
- 2008 Lawrence Tynes – New York Giants Player
- 2009 Alan Cumming, OBE – Tony Award-winning Actor
- 2010 Rt. Hon. Sir Alex Fergusson – Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament (2007-2011)
- 2011 Rt. Hon. Bob Winter – Lord Provost of Glasgow (2007-2012)
- 2012 Brian Cox, CBE – Actor
- 2013 Kevin McKidd – Actor and Director
- 2014 Howie Nicholsby – Kilt Designer
- 2015 Graham McTavish – Actor
- 2015 Co-Grand Marshal Tricia Marwick – Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament (2011-2016)
- 2016 Sam Heughan – Actor
- 2017 Tommy Flanagan – Actor
- 2018 KT Tunstall – Musician
- 2019 Sir Billy Connolly – Actor, Musician, Comedian
- 2020 Brian Cox, CBE – Actor
- 2022 Karen Gillan - Actress
An Interview with Kyle Dawson
In 2020 Anna interviewed Kyle Dawson, President of the National Tartan Day New York Committee so he could share his story with us. As well as being president Kyle is Treasurer of New York Caledonian Club, an avid bagpiper and part of team no sleep, making New York City Tartan Week great fun from start to finish!
March down 6th Avenue
Join the Parade
Register to march in the National Tartan Day Parade! The Parade starts at 2.00pm at West 45th Street and marches up 6th Avenue to 55th Street.
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