ALBERTA provincial tartan was designed by Alison Lamb and Ellen Neilsen, two ladies from the Edmonton Rehabilitation Society for the Handicapped - a voluntary agency providing work for handicapped students learning to operate handlooms. Lamb was the society's Executive Director and Neilsen, its weaving instructor. It was given official recognition by an Act of the Legislature assented to March 30, 1961. The predominant colours are green for the province's forests and gold for its fields of wheat. Other attributes of the province are represented by blue for the skies and lakes, pink for the wild rose, and black for the mineral resources of coal and petroleum. International Tartan Index number: 2055 Category: district
BRITISH COLUMBIA It was originally suggested that Canada´s westernmost province be called New Caledonia, indicative of its Scottish heritage. But, as there was an island in the South Pacific already known by that name, the name British Columbia was confirmed by official proclamation in 1858. The tartan was designed by Earl K. Ward of Victoria, B.C., in 1967 as part of the 1966-67 centennial celebrations marking the creation of the province as a colony. In 1974, it was officially adopted as the provincial tartan. The Pacific Dogwood is the official flower of the province and is represented by white in the tartan. Green is for the forests which cover an area twice as big as all of the New England states and New York state; the blue signifies the Pacific Ocean; the red, the maple leaf; the gold of the crown and sun in the provincial arms. The tartan was entered in the Lyon Court Book No.18 on January 8, 1969.
ITI number: 808 Category: district
CAPE BRETON Cape Breton Island lies off the southeast shore of the province of Nova Scotia, and is a part of that province. But like most Easterners, Cape Bretoners are an independent lot who take pride in their unique heritage. In 1907, Mrs. Lillian Crewe Walsh, of Glace Bay, Cape Breton, wrote a poem in praise of Cape Breton. She gave that poem to a Mrs.Grant in 1957 who designed a tartan that reflected the poem: Cape Breton Island tartan - Grey for our Cape Breton Steel - Gold for the golden sunsets shining bright on the lakes of Bras D'or - Green for our lofty mountains,our valleys and our fields - To show us, God's hand has lingered - To Bless Cape Breton's shores. ITI number: 1883 Category: district
MANITOBA Hugh Kirkwood Rankine, who was born in Winnipeg of Scottish parents, designed Manitoba´s official tartan. It's said that during a leave in Scotland during the Second World War, he became interested in tartan, on his return to Canada learned how to weave and, in time, produced this 'history in cloth' which was given Royal Assent in 1962. Manitoba provincial tartanThe red squares represent the Red River Settlement; the green squares signify the natural resources of the province; the azure blue squares represent Lord Selkirk, the founder of the Red River Settlement; the dark green lines are for Manitoba's multi-cultural population which has enriched the life of the province; the golden lines signify the grain and other agricultural products of Manitoba. ITI number: 144 Category: district
MAPLE LEAF tartan is an 'unofficial' Canadian tartan, in that no legislation has been passed by the Canadian parliament pronouncing it to be an officially recognized emblem of Canada. However, in 2008, it was registered with the Scottish Tartans Authority when national Tartan Day was instituted. This asymmetrical tartan was designed by David Weiser in 1964 in anticipation of the centennial celebration of Canada's confederation in 1867. According to Heritage Canada: "The colours of the maple leaf through the changing seasons became the basis for the tartan designed by David Weiser in 1964. Known officially as the Maple leaf tartan, the pattern incorporates the green of the leaves' summer foliage, the gold which appears in early autumn, the red which appears with the coming of the first frost, and the brown tones of the fallen leaves." ITI number: 2043 Category: district
NEW BRUNSWICK provincial tartan was named in honour of King George III, who was from the House of Brunswick. Designed by the Loomcrofters company in Gagetown - a village on the Saint John River - the tartan was adopted as the official tartan by a provincial Order in Council in 1959. The tartan is registered at the Court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms of Scotland. The colours are forest green for the lumbering; meadow green for agriculture; blue for the coastal and inland waters; and an interweaving of gold, symbol of the province's potential wealth. The red blocks signify the loyalty and devotion of the early Loyalist settlers and the New Brunswick Regiment. The brown band commemorates the 'beaver' from Lord Beaverbrook, the press baron who commissioned the first weaving. Although not born there, he published his first newspaper in the province at the age of 13 and always regarded it as home. ITI number: 1880 Category: district
NEWFOUNDLAND and LABRADOR Two names are associated with the official Newfoundland tartan: Louis Anderson and Sam Wilansky. The first is said to have designed it, while the second is said to have 'developed' it, or first marketed it as Newfoundland's tartan. Heritage Canada says: "The tartan has the colours of gold, white, brown and red on a green background. The gold represents the sun's rays; the green represents the pine clad hills; the white represents the cloak of snow; the brown represents the Iron Isle and the red represents the Royal Standard for which our fathers stood." In 1972, the Minister of Provincial Affairs for the province petitioned Lord Lyon to record the tartan, which was done on the 3rd of September, 1973. ITI number: 1543 Category: district
NOVA SCOTIA The first official provincial tartan of Canada, the Nova Scotia tartan, was designed by Mrs. Bessie Murray in 1953 for the Truro Agricultural Exhibition, and first produced by she and her friend, Mrs. Isobel MacAulay. It was registered in the books of the Court of the Lord Lyon on March 7, 1956, and adopted as the official tartan of the province under the authority of the Nova Scotia Tartan Act in 1963. Nova Scotia provincial tartanThe blue represents the sea and sky, the dark and light greens commemorate the evergreen and deciduous trees that cover the province, the white connotes the rocks and coastline surf, the gold represents the Nova Scotia Royal Charter, and the red symbolizes the lion rampant on the Nova Scotia crest. ITI number: 1713 Category: district
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES According to Heritage Canada: The official tartan of the Northwest Territories designed by Mrs. Janet Anderson Thomson was unveiled at the 48th Session of the Territorial Council in January of 1973. The new tartan is in the traditional design with colours of green and brown and shades of red. Anderson Thomson first proposed the idea of an NWT tartan after attending an RCMP ball in Yellowknife in 1966, at which the official piper was dressed rather badly. Mrs Thomson enlisted the help of Hugh MacPherson of Edinburgh to design the tartan. She chose the colours and MacPherson produced three draft designs from which this one was chosen by an official committee.Green represents the forests, white the frozen Arctic Ocean, blue the Northwest Passage, gold the mineral wealth of the NWT and the red-orange, which she describes as 'autumn colours' represents the barren lands or 'Arctic prairies.' The tartan also contains a thin black line representing the northern treeline. The tartan was officially unveiled at the 48th Session of the Territorial Council in January of 1973.
ITI number: 662 Category: district
ONTARIO It is said to be based loosely on the tartan of Sir John Sandfield Macdonald, the first premier of the province (not to be confused with Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada's first prime minister). Ontario provincial tartanUp until 2000 the accepted - but unofficial - tartan for the province was the Ensign of Ontario - a fairly simple sett designed back in 1965. In 2000, member of provincial parliament Bill Murdoch was successful in having legislation passed that pronounced a new design, by Jim MacNeil, chairman of Scottish studies at the University at Guelph, to be Ontario's official tartan. It consists of four main different blocks containing the colours red and white with three shades of green and two shades of blue. The green shades symbolize the forests and fields of Ontario while the blue colours depict the water found in the province. The First Nations of Ontario are symbolized by the colour red and the sky over the province is depicted by the colour white. ITI number: 6627 Category: district
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND lies just north of Nova Scotia. Home to Anne of Green Gables and famous for its rich, red earth, its population is predominantly of Scottish extraction. In 1960, an official tartan design competition was held which was won by Mrs. Jean Reid of Covehead. The colours she chose were described as follows: Red for the warmth and glow of the fertile soil, green for the field and tree, yellow and brown for Autumn and white for the surf or a summer snow.
ITI number: 918 Category: district
QUÉBEC The province of Quebec also has no official tartan. However, according to Heritage Canada, its unofficial tartan: "owes its inspiration to the provincial coat of arms which in turn reflects the history of the province. The colours of the tartan are taken from the three horizontal divisions of the shield. The blue is for the field of the upper division containing three fleurs de lys. The green is for the sprig of maple leaves on the lower division. The red is for the background of the centre division. The gold is for the lion rampant in the third division and also for the crown of the crest. The white is for the scroll with the motto "Je me souviens" (I remember)." The 'Plaid du Quebec' is not registered with Lord Lyon but is said to have been 'patented' in 1965 but is still referred to as the 'unofficial'. Scottish immigrants first settled in Quebec over 400 years ago and are regarded as one of the founding peoples of the province. Patented in 1965 by textile manufacturer Rotex Ltd., it is considered a corporate tartan by the Scottish Tartans Authority. ITI number: 1949 Category: corporate
SASKATCHEWAN Designed in 1961 by Mrs F.L. Bastedo, wife of the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan tartan was registered with Lord Lyon on October 6, 1961. Saskatchewan is half forest and half farmland, with over 100,000 lakes, rivers and marshes. The tartan has seven colours, the predominant gold representing prairie wheat; brown for summer fallow; green for the forests; red for the provincial flower (the prairie lily), yellow for rapeseed flower (grown widely in the lower half of the province) and sun flower; white for snow; and black for oil and coal. (Summerfallow is a practice used to conserve soil moisture and consists of leaving land fallow over a growing season, keeping it free of vegetation for 18-20 months. It has been used in the Canadian Prairies for over a century.)
ITI number: 1817 Category: district
YUKON According to the Scottish Register of Tartans: The Yukon Tartan Act was passed in 1984 and this tartan - designed in 1965 by Janet Couture of Faro - was fully accredited as the official provincial tartan. Faro is a tiny village of 400 population situated in the 'overwhelming wilderness of the Campbell Region' in country where 'in winter, ice bridges replace ferries. The symbolism of the colours has been lyrically described: "The crystalline blue background represents Yukon's sparkling, glacier-fed waters and its clear mountain skies. Magenta reflects the colours of the Yukon's floral emblem, the firewood of late summer. Green is symbolic of Yukon's great expanses of wilderness forest and purple symbolises the majestic thrust of mountains into the northern sky. White represents the purity of the winter snow that crowns the peaks and blankets the alpine meadows. The yellow represents the long, soft evenings of the midnight sun and the Yukon's famous deposits of gold."ITI number: 1713 Category: district
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