Scottish International Eco-Schools Planet Earth Tartan unveiled

The first six meters of Scottish International Eco Schools Planet Earth Tartan, designed by Rosalind Jones of Perthshire, and woven by D.C. Dalgliesh Weavers of Selkirk was presented to our CEO Barry Fisher at a celebration event to mark 30 years of the international Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment programmes in Scotland.

At the event hosted by Stirling High School, and streamed online for others across Scotland to attend, three challenges were unveiled - including creating a collage of eco activities, designing an Eco-Schools tartan and completing bingo activities throughout the year.

On receiving the woven tartan Barry said, “The Scottish International Eco-Schools Planet Earth Tartan symbolises the physical features of Earth as seen from Space. It has been designed as a visual, iconic, reminder to us all to cut our own emissions and to protect our world from the extremes of climate change and wildlife extinctions.

“We are very grateful to Rosalind for gifting us this tartan as we celebrate the impact of 30 years of environmental education in Scotland and we look forward to using it to help raise awareness about the plight of our planet and what we can all do to protect and restore nature and our environment here in Scotland and across the globe.”

“We hope that this tartan and its warp threads will stretch all around our planet, as we share it with other nations actively involved with Eco-Schools internationally.”

Protected by Intellectual Property Office Registration certification and The Scottish Register of Tartans it is hoped that this unique tartan will raise awareness about the challenges facing our earth, atmosphere and all who live here.  Pieces of this unique tartan will be presented to notable people and organisations working to protect our planet and the warp threads will be divided between 80+ plus countries, who also run Eco-Schools.

Designer of the tartan, Rosalind Jones, commented, "It started in 1999 with a geological tartan ‘map’ of the Isle of Mull – becoming the ‘Mull Millennial’ tartan. Then, inspired by two King penguins on the cover of the BBC’s book, ‘Life in the Freezer’, I designed a tartan map of the Antarctic using the colours of the penguins. This was followed in 2001 by the Arctic tartan map which was the direct opposite to the Antarctic incorporating green instead of yellow. All three ‘map’ tartans raised funds for charity and still do. So, a quarter of a century later, with Climate Change a burning issue, it seemed logical to connect the North and the South poles and create the Planet Earth tartan to bring more awareness about the need for all of us to cut emissions.

The tartan symbolises the physical features of Earth as seen from Space. Planet Earth is a sphere of dense rock 12756 kilometres in diameter surrounded by layers of atmospheric gases up to 97 kilometres thick. Oceans cover 70.8% of its crust and reflect deep blue. Land mass covers 29.2%, half reflects green vegetation, one third reflects white ice, and one sixth gold sand. The lowest layer of the pale blue atmosphere, the troposphere, is where water vapour forms white clouds and moves in lines, or swirls, as weather systems.  NASA Apollo 17 astronauts, looking from the blackness of space, called Earth ‘The Blue Marble’.

“The design uses Earth’s colours in proportion, squaring spherical Earth into a tartan sett but with one important exception. The pale blue representing our thin atmosphere also forms a delicate cross, descending from pole to pole with slim arms reaching across the equator. Not to scale, black represents space and the thin white line our Moon and the Milky Way.

“Scottish tartans, like Bar and QR codes, have always delivered important messages. Historically tartans declared membership of a clan. Today they can represent a club, country, or corporation. The Scottish International Eco Schools Planet Earth tartan delivers a very important message. In tartan code is says…     This is where we ALL live. Animals, plants, humanity, our children and grandchildren.

“The pale blue cross is a stark warning. It symbolises the protection life on Earth has from our fragile atmosphere, damaged by human industrial and domestic emissions.

“The Planet Earth Tartan, is a wake-up call to Be Aware and To Care for the future of our planet, its biodiversity, and the futures of our children and grandchildren.”

You can read a Q&A blog from tartan designer Rosalind outlining more detail on the tartan design, and why it was gifted to us and find out more about the Eco-Schools 30th Celebration Challenge for pupils to design their own tartan. 

Further information on the tartan and the story behind it can be read here.