the john muir exhibit - tartan
California Tartan Honors John Muir
California now has an official State Tartan,
honoring the memory of
John Muir and other Scottish immigrants to California. The State
Tartan is based on the Muir Clan tartan, in honor of the great
Scottish-born naturalist. This tartan is representative of the Scottish heritage of millions of Scottish-Californians, but the law expressly provides that the State
Tartan is one that all California residents may "claim as their
own."
What is a Tartan?
A tartan is a special kind of cloth design from Scotland.
The design consists of stripes of
various widths and colors. The stripes cross at right angles
against a solid color background. The principal clans in
Scotland, especially the clans in the Highlands, have their
own tartans. In the United States, the word tartan
also means a cloth or a garment with a tartan design. The
cloth that is used to make a tartan is usually wool. A
tartan design is called a "sett."
The California State Tartan adopts an existing sett created expressly for this purpose.
The California State District Tartan is duly registered and accepted as such by The Scottish Tartans Society and was entered in The Registry of All Known Tartans as TS 2454 on the 3rd of June, 1998. It was registered, as well, by The Scottish Tartans Authority as Tartan 200111.
The tartan accords the State's natural splendor and history and is derived from the pattern and sett based on the Muir Family tartan, but with sufficient originality to be registered with the Scottish Tartans Society as a unique tartan. The tartan's blue reflects the sky, the Pacific, the rivers and mountains, while the green reflects the Sierras, fields, forests, and parks. The red, gold, and blue signify the arts, sciences, and industry of the people of the State of California.
Effective January 1, 2002, the California Legislature has proclaimed April 6 annually as "California Tartan Day." The date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, the Scottish Declaration of Independence, which was signed on April 6, 1320. To some extent, the American Declaration of Independence was modelled on that inspirational document. Coincidentally, April 6 is also "California Poppy Day" (so designated in 1974 pursuant to Government Code § 421; Education Code § 37222(a)(3)) - - linking - quite by accident -- Scottish culture and California's State Flower on our state commemorative calendar!
The tartan was designed by Messrs. J. Howard Standing, Esq., of Tarzana, California, and Thomas Ferguson of Sydney, British Columbia.
All residents of the State of California can rightfully wear, and show the tartan as their own!
Mr. and Mrs. J. Howard Standing model the California tartan.
Photo by permission of Jim Anderson, © Bonbright Woolens, Inc. 2000, all rights reserved.
The Legislation
The legislation, AB 614, enacted California Government Code Section
424.3, which officially designates the California District Tartan as
the official California State Tartan. The Secretary of State
recorded the signed legislation on Tuesday, July 24, 2001. it is
interesting to note that throughout the entire complex legislative
process, there was never a single dissenting vote cast. This
included a total of five voting sessions, including committees and
floor votes.
The California State Tartan was designed by J. Howard Standing, 2001 president, and past president, past V.P., past treasurer of the St. Andrews Society of Los Angeles, and a member of the St.
Andrews Society of Southern California, and Thomas Ferguson. The
concept was largely campaigned for by the St. Andrews Society of Los Angeles.
A leader of that organization, Christopher Gray Lamberton, FSA Scot, Past President (1995-1997) of the St. Andrews Society of Southern California, President St. Andrews Foundation of Southern California, and Regional High Commissioner (AZ, CA, HI, NV) of the Clan Stewart Society in America, conceived
the idea of a petition drive and wrote the original draft, which was then fine-tuned by J. Howard Standing.
Californians owe a debt of gratitude to the citizens who conceived and promoted the new State Tartan. Especially important was J. Howard Standing for
conceiving the idea, and for designing the tartan. His tireless
efforts made all the rest possible. Thanks also to Assemblywoman
Helen Thomson, and Assemblyman Bill Campbell, for raising the
banner, and introducing this bill in the State Assembly. Senator
Bruce McPherson deserves thanks for his support and efforts in the
State Senate.
Mr. J. Howard Standing displays a banner made with the California Tartan.
Photo by permission of R. M. Richards © 2000, all rights reserved.
Sources of information and Thanks to:
J. Howard Standing
Christopher Gray Lamberton
Scottish Tartans World Register: California
California District Tartan WR2454
More on Tartans
Comparison of California Tartan and Muir Tartan
California TS Number: TS2454
Class District
Details California Official State Tartan
Status: Assembly Bill 614 was passed by the State Assembly and Senate on July 23rd 2001. Governor Davis approved and signed the Assembly Bill 614 on July 24th 2001 which was subsequently filled with the Secretary of State.
Source: J Howard Standing & Thomas Ferguson
sIndex BKB:YKG
Thread Count LB8, K2, B56, K32, G20, R4, G20, R8, G20, R4, G20, K2, Y8
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More / Muir
TS Number: TS345
Class: Clan
Details: The Muir tartan has the traditional blue - black - green base, but with an unusual motif of three narrow red stripes appearing twice on the green square. A similar device is seen in the Cochrane tartan. The threadcount of this illustration comes from a sample in the collection of John MacGregor Hastie, who collected tartans between 1930 and 1950, and whose work formed the basis of the archive at the Scottish Tartans Society. The tartan was documented in John Ross's, 'Land of the Scottish Gael' published in 1930.
Source: 'Land of the Scottish Gael', John Ross.
sIndex BKG:YKG
Thread Count B120, K30, G20, R4, G20, R4, G20, R4, G20, K2, Y8
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