We are delighted to unveil the Scottish International Eco-Schools Planet Earth Tartan.
Joining more than 7,000 named tartans that have been designed and woven since the earliest archaeological evidence of tartan cloth in the third and fourth century AD, the Eco-Schools Planet Earth Tartan has been gifted to Keep Scotland Beautiful becoming part of our heritage.
Designed by Rosalind Jones the colours chosen for have all been matched as closely as possible to NASA photographs taken of Earth from Space while the proportions are as close as possible to Earth’s real proportions.
Rosalind - who is supporting our Eco-Schools 30th Anniversary Challenge – to design a tartan – kindly answered some questions and told us about her love of our natural world, her passion for tartan, and her hopes for our planet and the people and nature that live here.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your tartan journey?
My interest in tartan began, aged 3, when I fell in love with the man on the Scott’s Porridge Oats packet!
I graduated from London University with Joint Honours in Geology and Zoology. Then I worked at London’s Natural History Museum before becoming a teacher, first Biology at a girls school, then as a Geology and Geography teacher to boys at Wellington College. It was while working here, that, inspired by reading a newspaper article published in 1988 by Charles Clover, titled ‘10 years remaining for the world to save itself’ I compiled a file about threatened global environments and global warming.
Following early retirement from teaching and moving to the Isle of Mull in 1994 I’ve gone on to design a number of tartans, written over 200 published articles, three large books and several academic books and travel booklets.
It was when I was living on the Isle of Mull, that I reconnected with my love of tartan. I was keen to design my own Jones tartan but didn’t know how to. Then in 1995 I met Tartan historian/handloom weaver Peter MacDonald whilst writing about interesting people living in the footsteps of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. My encounter with Peter stayed with me.
In 1996 the church I attended on Mull needed a new roof. To support the fundraising I thought developing a St Columba Tartan would be a good idea. This was based on 1997 being the 1,400th Anniversary of St Columba’s death. I contacted Peter, selected the colours of Iona, helped fine-tune his design. I also wrote the ‘story’ to go with it and the design was approved by the Warden of the Community on Iona.
In 1998 I designed the Jones International Tartan – sitting with Peter at his computer as he helped me enter my vision into the tartan design programme.
The following year, as a member of the Mullennium Committee on Mull I designed the Mull Millennial Tartan – the first geological tartan, it represented the unique geology of Mull and was used to raise funds for the Mull Progressive Care Centre and the Mull Swimming Pool Fund.
Also in 1999, with the hope of whale conservation around Antarctica I designed the Antarctic Tartan with the approval of The British Antarctic Survey. The charity that the tartan supports is the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust – using money generated to conserve heritage huts in Antartica and protect Adelie penguins at Port Lockroy.
In 2000 I followed up by designing the Arctic Tartan – with the approval of WWF – to support their conservation work with polar bears.
Both the Antarctic and the Arctic tartans are ‘map’ tartans of the South Pole and North pole areas – the first ever tartan maps to be designed.
I was later asked to design The Mothers Union tartan and also The Ascension Island tartan. These tartans, as with all my tartans, were given to the charities concerned.
Why did you chose to design the Planet Earth tartan?
Years passed during which I concentrated on writing books. During this time promises were made by the UK Government and those abroad to tackle Climate Change. By 2014 I believed many of these promises had been broken.
I worked with United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust, whom I designed the Antartic Tartan for, to champion polar awareness as a climate issue. At the same time I designed my own ‘I’m Cutting Emissions’ posters, designed and produced a badge, and written verses that ‘Mother Earth’ might well have said if ‘she’ could speak!
I wrote to numerous people, including Sir David Attenborough who was supportive. Then the Covid pandemic commenced and my endeavours stalled.
In 2023 I moved back to Scotland, having lived in both Normandy and the Isle of Wight, and I decided to design a Planet Earth tartan to bring about much more urgent awareness of the climate and nature crisis.
No ‘Earth’ tartan has ever been designed and produced before. I questioned my right to design it. However, I was spurred to do so by the future plight of Earth’s children. My thoughts were about all the future generations who would be adversely affected by global heating and climate change. I have three grandchildren. I knew that I had to keep trying for their sakes. I also knew that if the tartan was managed and marketed really well the Planet Earth Tartan could raise awareness and have an enormously positive effect on people not just in Scotland but globally, to cut emissions and reduce today’s global heating.
Rosalind Jones
It was good fortune that I was introduced to Keep Scotland Beautiful and CEO Barry Fisher, who was enthusiastic about the Planet Earth tartan and how it could be used to raise awareness and inspire action.
With the support of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) which operates the international Eco-Schools programme and Keep Scotland Beautiful which delivers the programme in Scotland, I had the right to register the design.
What is the meaning behind the Eco-Schools Planet Earth tartan?
In order to create a Planet Earth tartan, I researched the proportions of our planet.
Continents constitute 29.2% of which (not taking into account land areas occupied by humanity) deserts account for 5% and ice accounts 10%, leaving 14.2% for forests and grasslands. Oceans account for 70.8%
Earth’s sphere is 8,000 miles in diameter and the atmospheric thickness amounts to 60 miles.
As a planet, Earth is known as the ‘Blue marble’ due to its predominantly blue colour with white vapour clouds constantly swirling in the lower atmosphere.
Earth with its outer shell of atmosphere is surrounded by the blackness of space, including that in close proximity which is shared by the other planets of our solar system. It is surrounded at a vast distance by the whorl of the ‘milky way’ which delimits our galaxy.
Planet Earth is the only ‘Living Planet’ known, so far, to mankind.
Continents:
Rain Forest and Savannah = dark green
Temperate Forest and Steppe = light green
Desert = gold
Ice = white
Oceans: -
Oceanic water = dark blue
Clouds over oceans in weather systems = white
Atmosphere:
Sphere surrounding Earth = Pale blue
Cross at the centre of the sett emphasises the fragility of the very thin shell of Earth’s atmosphere.
Space:
Black (not to scale)
Milky way edge of galaxy: - White (not to scale)
The proportions are as close as possible to Earth’s real proportions but symbolically represented as a flat square sett, depicted as far as the edge of the atmosphere. After this the blackness of Space is not to scale and neither is the white band that represents the Milky Way.
What are your hopes for the Planet Earth Tartan and our planet?
I have gifted the Planet Earth Tartan to Keep Scotland Beautiful in support of the International Eco-Schools programme operated by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).
My hope is that I can work with them to promote the Eco Schools Planet Earth Tartan and raise awareness of the climate and nature emergencies and what can be done.
Tartan is loved internationally. Tartan is iconically associated with Scotland. Scotland is a small country. So, to show the world that our small, trusted country, is aiming, via a unique tartan, to promote cutting emissions to save our planet for our children’s and grandchildren’s future, will be an eye-opener for many.
And it could encourage organisations and governments to take action.
Most people choose to wear a tartan that represents some part of their own heritage, Planet Earth is part of everyone’s heritage.
I would love to see children from all nationalities, colours, and creeds, wearing the Eco-Schools Earth Tartan on a ribbon whilst recording verses of my updated chant for children. From all around the world our children and young people would tell everyone, globally, why we must all cut our emissions, educating their families and friends and hopefully their governments.
We will be working with Rosalind in coming months to run a live lesson on tartan as part of the 30th Anniversary of Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment. We will also be investigating how we can use the tartan to help emphasise our messages and inspire action to combat climate change and protect and enhance biodiversity.
