A special ceremony named Kirking of the Tartans is held every year around the world.
In Scotland, instead of being named “church”, the temples are named “kirk”. So, a “kirking” is a ceremony where the tartans are blessed. The tartans being blessed, the blessing comprises the family members that constitute the clan wearing the tartan
There are two “special” tartans: the so called “Royal Stewart” tartan, regarded as without family affiliation, and the “Black Watch” tartan, that is a military tartan, named after a Highland Regiment. The regiment's name allegedly came from the dark tartan that they wore and from its role to "watch" the Highlands. (http://www.theblackwatch.co.uk/)
The Royal Stewart Tartan is the tartan of the royal House of Stewart, and is also the personal tartan of Queen Elizabeth II. Officially, the tartan is worn by the pipers of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
The tartan has became well known in motor racing circles, as three-times Formula One World Champion Jackie Stewart used a distinctive band of Royal Stewart tartan around his crash helmet.
Tartan is, without doubt, one of the nation's major 'brands' - instantly recognised the world over as uniquely Scottish.
Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the highland tartans were associated with regions or districts, because tartan designs were produced by local weavers who made use of the natural dyes available in the area. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that specific tartans became associated with Scottish clans or Scottish families.
The word clan in Scottish Gaelic means 'offspring, children, or descendants'. Each clan was a large group of people, an extended family, supposedly descended from one progenitor and all owing allegiance to the clan chief. It also included a large group of loosely-related dependent families, all of whom looked to the clan chief as their head and their protector.
Scotland (in Scottish Gaelic, Alba) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, located in the northern part of the island of Great Britain. In addition to the mainland, Scotland includes over 790 islands.
Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe and is today one of Europe's largest financial centres.
Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities, and Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, has the title of Europe's oil capital.
Throughout the centuries, Scotland has preserved its culture and therefore, its national identity.
The Comonwealth
After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, a free association of independent states which share their head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.
The current Commonwealth Realms are (in alphabetical order): 1. Antigua and Barbuda, 2. Australia, 3. Bahamas, 4. Barbados, 5. Belize, 6. Canada, 7. Grenada, 8. Jamaica, 9. New Zealand, 10. Papua-New Guinea, 11. St. Kitts and Nevis, 12. St. Lucia, 13. St. Vincent and the Grenadines,15. Solomon Islands, 16. Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom (Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
The Crown Dependencies
The Crown Dependencies comprise the Channel Islands (Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey), in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea.
Overseas Territories
Fourteen territories remain under British sovereignty, the British Overseas Territories, which spread throughout the globe, ranging from the island of Pitcairn in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with its less than 50 inhabitants (even though worldwide known because of the “Mutiny of the Bounty”), to Cayman Islands, one of the world's major offshore financial centres.
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty in 1789, led by Fletcher Christian against the commanding officer, William Bligh. According to most accounts, the sailors were attracted to the idyllic life on the Pacific islands and so some of them decided to set Lieutenant Bligh and the members of the crew who were loyal to him in a small boat, while the rest settled on Pitcairn Island. Descendants of the mutineers with Tahitians women still live on Pitcairn Island. As for Bligh and his crew, they made an epic journey in the small boat to Timor (Dutch East Indies), from where he returned to England and reported the mutiny. The episode has been commemorated by several writers (Lord Byron, Mark Twain, Jules Verne), films (among them, “The Bounty”, starring Anthony Hopkins as William Bligh and Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian). and popular songs (the English punk rock band The Mekons included a song titled "Sometimes I Feel Like Fletcher Christian")
The current Overseas Territories are: 1. Gibraltar, in the Iberian Peninsula and currently claimed by Spain; 2. the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus Island, in the Mediterranean Sea; 3. the British Indian Ocean Territory, claimed by both Republics of Mauritius and Seychelles, 4, the Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific Ocean; in the Caribbean and North Atlantic Ocean: 5. Anguilla, 6. Bermuda, 7. British Virgin Islands, 8. Cayman Islands, 9. Montserrat, 10. Turks and Caicos Islands, in the South Atlantic Ocean: 11. Falkland Islands and 12. South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (both claimed by Argentina), 13. Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and 14. British Antarctic Territory (regarding which there are also overlapping claims made by Chile and Argentina)
Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is the main settlement of the island of Tristan da Cunha. It is regarded as the most remote permanent settlement in the world, being over 1,500 miles (2400 kilometres) from the nearest human settlement.