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The Royal Stuart Bute Tartan is the most recognised Scottish tartan in the world. But did you know that it was once illegal for anyone but the Royal Family to wear it?

Thankfully, it can now be worn freely - without doing time in the dungeons!

Royal Stewart tartan - where the modern tradition started!

The Royal Stewart tartan is the best-known plaid on the planet. It was chosen by Sir Walter Scott for King George IV's visit to Edinburgh when the old laws banning tartan began to be lifted. Commoners soon highjacked the Royal Stewart plaid to show their royalist loyalty. So the royal family later adopted the Balmoral tartan (said to have been designed by Prince Albert) which convention dictates is worn only by them and the Queen's piper!

Nowadays Royal Stewart is the most widely produced tartan commercially thanks to its striking red colour scheme. No one thinks of it as even expressing royalism. It's simply the most widely worn tartan in the world.