The design of the Saint Ninian tartan was created by Matthew Newsome, director of the Scottish Tartans Museum of Franklin, North Carolina. As with every tartan, colors will play a symbolic role in the St. Ninian plaid dedicated to Benedict XVI. Newsome explained: "The white line on blue field draws upon Scotland's national colors while the green reflects the lichens growing on the stones of Whithorn in Galloway. It was there that St. Ninian first brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Scottish shores over 1,600 years ago. The white lines are also accompanied by a pair of red lines, reflecting the colors of the personal crest of Cardinal Newman [beatified by the Pope during his recent visit to Scotland]. And finally, the thin yellow lines in the tartan, together with the white, reflect the colors of the Vatican. In terms of the weaving, each white line on the green contains exactly eight threads, one for each Catholic diocese in Scotland; there are 452 threads in the design from pivot to pivot, representing the number of Catholic parishes in Scotland." Links for Saint Ninian Tartan Outlets: G.R. Saunders Wholesale Ltd. ~ New Minas, N.S. Saunders Tartans & Gifts ~ New Minas, N.S. The Scottish Tartans Museum ~ Franklin, North Carolina Ingles Buchan Limited ~ Glasgow, Scotland |