Spirit of 1994

[NorCalPiper]

Having lived in South Africa and Namibia for 6 years (I have 2 children who live and school there as well), I will certainly be onboard for how ever this develops. I DON'T like the pinstriping, I hope you decide to keep the original-That really fits for me! This may be over the top too much, but what would be cool is if you could do the flag in the back pleating. Kinda' like the saltire flag kilt...maybe thats a bit much..

[Brian K]

Glad to see you moving forward on this project, Mike. As you know, this was not my favorite of the setts we all kicked around with and for you on Scotweb, but it's your project and i hope it works out for you.

At the very least I think you should reduce the width of the white and yellow stripes by half, at least. To my eye they are so bright relative to the other colors in the sett that they give it a somewhat fuzzy appearance.

A suggestion that changes your sett much less than the other proposals I made at Scotweb - in fact it's your sett with the white and yellow reduced, no other changes:



You do realize, of course, that the Tartans Registry will most likely categorize it as a fashion tartan because it can not give it any sort of official designation without the cooperation of the South African Government. Generally they will not give an official designation to any tartan without someone who has the right to authorize that designation registering the tartan, if I recall correctly. For example, in this case it would be necessary for the SA Parliament to pass a resolution authorizing this as an official national emblem and the Speaker or the Clerk of the parliament would likely have to be listed as the registrant. Or, perhaps, the president could do it by decree and an official of his office would have to be the registrant.

There's nothing wrong with it being a fashion tartan, but it sure would be nice to have it "official." Good luck, my friend!

Regards,

Brian

[BEEDEE]

As an ex-resident of South Africa (Capetown 1969-74) I applaud your design but find it just too bright for my likes.

An ancient or weathered shade might look better.

Brian

[Mike_Oettle]

Thank you all for your input. I will give all the suggestions due consideration and post again when I have fiddled around a bit more at Scotweb.
As I mentioned, this does not carry official approval (especially since Mr Brownell is retired), but I am hopeful that in the long run it might catch national attention in a way similar to what has happened in the case of Maple Leaf.
Beedee’s idea of muted or weathered colours has a great deal of potential, but I would prefer it to be a variant, with the main design reflecting the actual flag colours. (My original design did not use pro colours [as Scotweb calls them], and is noticeably darker.)
I am very taken with the Saltire tartan, and have designed a Jamaican variation on it, but I doubt that it is possible to obtain a similar effect producing the South African flag in tartan.
Regards,
Mike

[Mike_Oettle]

After long consideration and some playing around at Scotweb this evening, I have come up with these two variations. The first is in colours as close as I could get them to the actual flag colours, while the second is in colours more traditionally associated with kilts.
Let me know what you folks think of them.
Spirit of 1994 (flag colours):

Spirit of 1994 (tartan colours):

Regards,
Mike

[English Bloke]

I think it's a tremendous idea Mike. I worked in Zimbabwe for a year in 1997 with blokes from nine different Southern African countries and it seemed the whole of the region was filled of hope for the future, following South Africa's lead in 1994 so the name I think, is spot on!

Of all your designs I like your first one best. I like the uneven spacing more than the other two and I think it better captures the uniqueness of the flag. I agree the tartan should be filled with vibrant colours as I think that's the point.

Press on Sir and good luck with this. Official recognition may be just around the corner.

P.S. I watched the '97 Lions Tour in Pubs in Nyanga (Zim) and Harare. I was vastly outnumbered but man! What a blast!

[davidlpope]

The last two designs look to me like simple tweed "gun club" checks. I encourage you to vary the relative thicknesses of the stripes if the point is to make a tartan. As far as the particular colors, I wouldn't get so hung up on that, either. Tartan colors are usually left to the weaver (or whoever commissions the tartan) and are best left IMO in normal threadcount descriptors- Blue, Red, Black, Azure, Green, etc. Being too picky about colors will get in the way of a really nice design.

Although many may dislike the American Bicentennial tartan for it's bright colors, it shows how one can draw inspiration from a flag yet still create an interesting design:

[Mike_Oettle]

Well folks, I went ahead and registered the tartan. I dropped the idea of being faithful to the flag colours, and went instead with the traditional tartan colours.

The details are on the Scottish Register of Tartans at http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar...aspx?ref=10465
The illustration at the SRT is much clearer than the image above, but I am at the moment unable to upload it.
Now to see how soon it can be woven and worn.
Proudly South African!
Regards,
Mike

[creagdhubh]

Congrats! Well done Mike...a proud day for South Africa!

Cheers,