Tartan Day - April 6

April 6th will be the 695th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, a letter written to Pope John XXII declaring Scotland an independent country and allowing Scotlandto use military action when provoked.

The Declaration, written in Latin (the formal language of the times), was signed by 51 noblemen. As a toast to this very historic event, Canada began celebrating its Scots heritage in the mid 1980s with parades, pipe bands, highland dancing, Kirkin o' the Tartna and other gatherings of the Scots Diaspora. This became widely known as Tartan Day. And in 2011, Canada had its own (Maple Leaf) tartan officially recognised.

In fairly short order, many other countries of the Scots Diaspora also declared or celebrated Tartan Day on April 6th. The exception to this is Australasia, which celebrates International Tartan Day on July 1, the anniversary of the repeal of the Act of Proscription which forbade the wearing of tartan by anyone outwith the military.