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We are very excited that the Commonwealth Games will be going ahead and wish Scotland's 192 athletes the best of luck! The Scotland Kilt Company is proud to be providing sporrans for the team to show traditional Scottish dress to all the spectators at home and abroad - Go Scotland! Let's hope the accommodation and stadium will be ready on time!

Last Thursday, September 16th, was a historic day for Scotland when the Pope visited Edinburgh and Glasgow - the first papal visit to Scotland in 28 years. 82 year old Pope Benedict XVI was warmly welcomed by over 200,000 Scots. While travelling to Holyrood Palace in the popemobile and during his meeting with Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister, Alex Salmond, First Minister and Rowan Williams the Archbishop of Canterbury, the pope wore a tartan scarf - in the official St Ninian's Day papal tartan - gifted to him by the Head of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Also at the meeting was Ian Gray, the Scottish Labour leader, who wore a blue and green tartan tie which had been designed to celebrate the Pontiff's visit. The visit was a great opportunity to show case the best Scottish traditions - with the Pontiff enjoying traditional fare of haggis, neeps and tatties at the Cardinal's house, receiving a Guard of Honour from kilted solders of the Royal Scottish Borderers, the Black Watch and 52 Lowland Regiment, and hearing music from the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band.

From weddings to Eisteddfodau the welsh festival of poets and musicians, Welsh patriots are wearing the Celtic cilt with pride. The Welsh National tartan was designed by D.M. Richards in 1967 to demonstrate Wales' connection with the greater Celtic world. Its colours (green, red, and white) are the colours of the Welsh national flag. The St David's Tartan or brithwe Dewi Sant is one of the most popular tartans in Wales. Welsh fans of celtic dress can also choose from the following individual family tartans: Davies, Edward's, Ellis, Evans, Eynon, Griffiths, Gwyn, Harry, Hopkins, Howell, Hughes, James, Jones, Jenkins, Lewis, Llewellyn, lliyd, Madoc, Meredith, Morgan, Morris, Owen, Phillips, Pope, Protheroe, Rees, Rice, Richard, Roberts, Rosser, Thomas, Vaughan, Watkins and Williams. In command with Scottish and Irish kilts the Welsh cilt is based on the large piece of cloth worn by rural folk in medieval times and later. The material was secured round the waist with a thick belt and secured over the shoulders with a penannular brooch common to all Celtic peoples. Although not considered a traditional component of Welsh national dress, the kilt or cilt as it is know in Welsh has become recently popular in the Celtic nations as a sign of Celtic identity. Other celtic nations that have embraced the kilt are Cornwall, the Isle of Man, the Tras-os-Montes region in the North of Portugal, and Galicia in Spain. The Welsh

Bonnie Prince Charlie Stuart Charles Edward, also know as The Young Pretender, and Bonnie Prince Charlie was claimant to the British throne and led the Scottish Highland army in the 1945 uprising. He was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart and grandson of James II of England, born in 1744, after his father had obtained the support of the French government invade England, Bonnie Prince Charlie went to France to assume command of the French expeditionary forces. Unfavorable weather and the mobilization of the British fleet led to cancellation of the plan by the French government. Charles raised a large enough force to enable him to march on the city of Edinburgh, which quickly surrendered. In September 1745 he defeated the only government army in Scotland at the Battle of Prestonpans. Having taken Carlisle, Charles' army progressed to Derby. Here, despite his objections the decision was taken by his council to return to Scotland, due to the lack of the support from English Jacobites. By now he was pursued by the King George II's son, who caught up with him at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746. At Culloden his forces were utterly routed . He was hunted as a fugitive for more than five months, but the Highlanders never betrayed him, escaped to France in September 1746. In 1748 he was expelled from France in accordance with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) George II George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 11 June 1727 until his death. He also served as Duke of Brunswick-L

The French island of Ouessant is looking for a Scottish island to twin with, ideally one that has it's own tartan and a distillery! Ouessant had it's own tartan registered a few weeks ago, and this move will help to strengthen ties between the French and Scottish Island communities MSP Rob and Jean-Yves Cozan, Regional Councillor for Ouessant The idea of Island linking has received a warm welcome from Rob Gibson Scottish MSP for the Highlands and Islands "Then I thought, maybe one of our northern isles could be a first by adopting a Norse tartan! Just as Ouessant is the first Breton Isle to create a tartan. Both Orkney and Shetland already have a distilleries, why not a tartan of their own?" the MSP will be contacting Scottish councils on the look out for the perfect Scottish partner.

The island of Quissant situated 20 miles off the coast of Brittany has created it's own tartan, registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans. The tartan design includes black and white stripes, in reference to the Bretton flag, blue and green colours in reference to ancient celtic druids, as well as red and yellow taken from the Island's crest. "A few of us wear kilt on Ouessant to cock a snook at outsiders as a joke. So, after a trip to Scotland, we thought 'Why not design a tartan in our islnd's colours?" Serge Cariou the tartan's designer. The tartan will be know as 'Eusa' taken from the Breton name of Ouessant 'Enez Eusa'. The tartan becomes the 12th Breton tartan registered. The other breton tartans are: Brittany National, Brittany Walkin and nine county tartans Kerne, Leon, Tregor, Gwened, Dol, St. Malo, Rennes, Nantes, St. Brieuc. "this tartan is not a gimmick, it's an act of cultural identity to assert that we have roots" said Jean -Yves Cozan a regional councillor of Ouessant.

This year the 60th year of Edinburgh's Royal Military Tattoo takes place between 6-28 August Against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle, the world's most spectacular Tattoo will host a celebration of talent from four continents including pipers, gymnasts, singers, dancers and an amazing motorcycle display team. And of course it's a great opportunity to see a magnificent range of highland outfits! The highlight of the event the is the unique Massed Pipes and Drums and that of the Massed Military Bands which features an enormous band

This weekend volunteers including soldiers and ex-soldiers of the Gordon Highlanders will be taking part in a 'Life in the Trenches' exhibition, bringing to life the experience of Scottish Soliders. During the great war The Gordon Highlanders regiment saw 30,000 killed, missing and wounded. Using displays of photographs and postcards as well as items such as gas masks, shrapnel fragments and helmets. Volunteers will re-enact the roles of both soldiers and nurses on the front line. Scott Neil, events coordinator at the museum, said: "For many Scottish soldiers, the kilt caused its own problems, often getting caught on barbed wire and with pleats that provided a home for lice." however Scottish soilders didn't want to part with their traditions, as Dave Clarke a History teacher and group member explains - "There were various attempts to put the Highland soldiers into trousers but it was extremely unpopular," he said. "Despite the cold, despite the lice, despite the fact it captured on barbed wire, the kilt was an iconic image the soldiers were proud of and they wished to retain them. When you see them up to their knees in mud and filth and slush, the vast majority would have been wearing nothing under the kilt." The event takes places on the 7 and 8 August at the National War Museum

Next month Scotland will begin its qualifying campaign for the 2012 European Championship. The first game against Lithuania kicks off on the 3rd September and the last game will be against the reigning champions Spain. This tournament is the 14th European championship which will be held by joint hosts Poland and Ukraine. The qualifying matches for the final tournament are being played between august 2010 and Nov 2011. This is that last Euro championship limited to 146 national teams, the next Euro in 2016 will expand to 24 teams. Stricker Kris Boyd talking to Scotland's new manager, Craig Levein. Scotland is playing in group I alongside Spain, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Liechtenstein. Get into the game and support Scotland with our range of football tops and casual kilts.

Citylink have developed a new luxury coach service, Citylink Gold, which promises to offer Britain's most luxurious form of coach travel. As well as leather seats and mahogany table trays - a new tartan has been specially created to add the finishing touches to staff uniforms and seatbacks. Stylist Lindsay Campbell said: "It is great that companies are using our heritage for their image, although this particular tartan is very strong." Of the tartan suits to be worn by the drivers, she added: "You may be a little confused as to what is a seat and what is the driver. "But it is certainly recognisable, bold and fun. It may even feature in some tourists' snapshots." Tartans have been used on other means of transport, buses companies who use tartan fabric covering the seats include Lothian Buses, who have their own tartan and London Routemaster buses who use the official London Transport tartan. Lothian buses tartan London Transport tartan The Flying Scotsman which made railway history as the first locomotive to travel non-stop between London and Edinburgh and which was the first steam locomotive in Britain to exceed 100 mph - is celebrated with an official Flying Scotsman tartan. Here you can see the use of tartan used on the Royal Scotsman It's not just on land where you will see tartan. Caledonian British Airways emphasise their Scottish roots for marketing purposes by adding the tagline "The Scottish International Airline" after the Caledonian name and by making its female flight attendants wear tartan uniforms. Caledonian British Airways tartan British Airways and Virgin have also had corporate tartan designs created. Virgin tartan The wide appeal and flexibility of tartan fabric has ensured that the development of new tartans for decorative and commercial purposes