Click the tartan to view its entry in The Scottish Registers of Tartans which includes registration details, restrictions, and registrant information.
Unregistered tartans may link to one of the web's online design environments for similar information.
For any questions about reproduction of designs or weaving of these tartans, please contact the registrant directly or via this website.
St. Piran's Day
"Where not a sound is heard
But the white waves, O bird,
And slippery rocks fling back the vanquish'd sea,
Thou soarest in thy pride,
Not heeding storm or tide;
In Freedom's temple nothing is more free."
~ The Cornish Chough, John Harris (1820-1884)
Happy St. Piran's Day and ""Gool Peran Lowen" to Cornwall! Each colour in the Cornish National Tartan has a special meaning: White on Black for St. Piran's Banner (The Patron Saint of Tinners); Black and Gold for the colours of the ancient Cornish kings; Red for the beak and legs of the Chough, the Cornish National bird; and blue for the sea surrounding Cornwall. "Chough" was originally an onomatopoeic name for the jackdaw (another member of the crow family) based on its "chough chough" call! Celebrate today with Cornish pasties, cream teas, and saffron buns, or if more athletically minded, a bit of Cornish dancing or Cornish wrestling. "Kernow bys vyken!" (Cornwall forever). 🖤 🤍 💛 🪶
Saint Piran or Pyran was a 5th-century Cornish abbot and saint, supposedly of Irish origin. He is the patron saint of tin-miners, and is also generally regarded as the patron saint of Cornwall
The ancient kingdom of Cornwall is remembered in this tartan, designed by the Cornish poet, E.E. Morton-Nance, in 1984 . He regarded tartan as the "heritage of all Celts" and extolled brave Cornishmen to wear the kilt of black and saffron, "Tints blazoned by her ancient Kings".
Each colour in the National Tartan has a special meaning: White on Black for St. Piran's Banner (The Patron Saint of Tinners), Black and Gold were the colours of the ancient Cornish kings; red is for the beak and legs of the Chough, the Cornish National bird and blue is for the sea surrounding Cornwall. The ancient kingdom of Cornwall is remembered in this tartan, designed by the Cornish poet, E.E. Morton-Nance in 1963 . He regarded tartan as the "heritage of all Celts" and extoll brave Cornishmen to wear the kilt of black and saffron, "Tints blazoned by her ancient Kings".
For more on Cornish wildlife, click the national bird, the Chough.