13,000

[Balaamsass51]

O C Richard - Yes, there are many patterns not registered.
figheadair - So you are saying the Scottish Register of Tartans are lying?

[figheadair]

figheadair - So you are saying the Scottish Register of Tartans are lying?

I did not say that, simply that they started their numbering at a certain point (to avoid confusion with existing databases, such as that maintianed by the STA.

To be clear, the Register does not claim to have 13000 tartans on record. As at 30 Oct 20 the total number of tartans included on the Register was 8544, including legacy tartans.

[Balaamsass51]

OK. So the Scottish Register of Tartans says they have 13,000+ tartans. (they get 10 or so new ones every week on average) When they started back in 2009 they used the lists from the Scottish Tartans Society, the Scottish Tartans Authority, and the Scottish Tartans World Register. These, as you say figheadair, are usually said to be around 7000 since the 3 prior lists had to be combined which was not an easy thing to do because each prior list used different criteria. Then the Scottish Register of Tartans began their numbering system at 10,000.

My current search on the SRT has the numbers from 1 to 6,276 for the tartans gotten from the 3 original lists. Then there is a gap of 3,724 numbers until they restart at 10,000. So they have added 3,000 tartans since then. Which would be 6,276 + 3000 = 9,276. (as of this week).

[figheadair]

OK. So the Scottish Register of Tartans says they have 13,000+ tartans. (they get 10 or so new ones every week on average) When they started back in 2009 they used the lists from the Scottish Tartans Society, the Scottish Tartans Authority, and the Scottish Tartans World Register. These, as you say figheadair, are usually said to be around 7000 since the 3 prior lists had to be combined which was not an easy thing to do because each prior list used different criteria. Then the Scottish Register of Tartans began their numbering system at 10,000.

My current search on the SRT has the numbers from 1 to 6,276 for the tartans gotten from the 3 original lists. Then there is a gap of 3,724 numbers until they restart at 10,000. So they have added 3,000 tartans since then. Which would be 6,276 + 3000 = 9,276. (as of this week).

I sit on the Advisory Panel for the Register and see their official stats (quoted earlier). I also manage the STA Master (Offline) Db and so can speak authoritatively about their number.

Your 6,276 figure assumes all entries were contiguous, they were not. There were gaps in the pre-Register numbering (something that still happens with the Register) and some have subsequently been removed is the total number is not the total number of entries.

Number of tartans registered between Feb 09 to Nov 20 = 2960. Some older patterns were added in and numerous errors and duplications were removed. In the case of removals, the number is 'gapped' and not reused - ergo the maths is not simple.

[James Hood]

Whatever way one looks at it, even several thousand is a gob of unique tartans, each with its own precise thread design.