Those who value democracy should always be on the lookout for organisations who claim be an ‘authority’ on tartans, or people who try to tell you what is an ‘official’ tartan, especially if these organisations are funded by business interests, or are not Scots. At the moment no-one, other than you as a member of the general public has any ‘authority’ over tartan, and there is no agreed definition for what is or is not official, unless it is a design which is privately owned and can only be used with the permission of the owner.
Public bodies, by adopting a tartan such as, for example a US State, are not making that tartan official or exercising any authority, they are merely making it a State symbol in the same way as they make a reptile or flower a State symbol.
The Scottish Tartans Society, including its branch and museum in North Carolina, which was at one time universally recognised as the unofficial ‘authority’ on tartans, is now defunct.
With the demise of the Scottish Tartans Society the Scottish World Tartans Register was established by the former archivists/researchers of the Scottish Tartans Society, Keith and Elizabeth Lumsden, as means of ensuring a continuing service to the public. They house and preserve all the historical records, samples, manuscripts and publications from the archives of the Scottish Tartans Society. They also operate and control the former Society’s website at www.tartans.scotland.net and provide a full design, research and advisory service on a voluntary basis. Fees are nominal, and they receive no funding from external sources. Their aim is to maintain and preserves these facilities until the Scottish Parliament has enacted legislation which provides for a ‘public register’ and a permanent home for the archive.
A second body known as the Scottish Tartans Authority was also established in the wake of the Scottish Tartans Society. They are a membership organisation which is effectively controlled by commercial interests. They provide the ‘Scottish Tartan Index’ on their website.