A Tartan Tale: Flodden

This special commemorative tartan was designed by Gordon Nicolson in 2013 to mark the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden, where 5,000 English and 10,000 Scots lost their lives. It forms a potent stitch in a thread of historic remembrance intrinsic to the Border Common Ridings, and the recently revived Riding of the Edinburgh Marches.

The colours of the Flodden tartan symbolically unite the two opposing sides of a devastating battle, which saw James IV become the last Scottish monarch to die in combat. The Tudor green and white of the English Army are bound inextricably to the deep red and gold colours of the Scottish forces, set against the grey and brown of the ground that they fought on, where many lie still.