After clearing the House committee on April 4, 2001, and a unanimous vote of approval by the entire House of Representatives on April 19th, LA. House Bill 347 unanimously cleared the Senate & Governmental Affairs committee on Wednesday, May 9. On May 15th, the bill was voted on by the full Senate and passed unanimously (38-0). The bill was signed by Governor Mike Foster on June 6th, 2001. Attending the signing ceremony were members of the Caledonian Society of Baton Rouge, The St. Andrew Society of Baton Rouge, The Celtic Society of Louisiana, The Caledonian Society of New Orleans, The Caledonian Society of Acadiana, The New Orleans Pipes and Drums, The Caledonian Society of the Northshore, The St. Andrew’s Society of Louisiana, Members of the Board of the Highland Games of Louisiana, and The Baton Rouge Irish Society. Included among those attending were Rep Charles McDonald, the sponsor of the Tartan Bill; Randall Stevenson, the man who is most responsible for the bill’s passage; and Joe McD. Campbell, the designer of the tartan.
The Louisiana Tartan is a project that was begun around 1999 when Kate McLean was President. The tartan was designed by a CSBR member and was presented to the Board of Directors. A letter was sent to Governor Mike Foster for his approval in March 2000. Unfortunately, it was sent to the wrong place and the governor informed Kate that it should go to the State Legislature for approval. CSBR action slowed a bit until member Randall Stevenson took the reins. Randall works for the Louisiana Department of Insurance and works daily with members of the state legislature. Randall was able to get Rep. Charles F. McDonald, from Bastrop, LA, to sponsor the bill with the able assistance of Rep. Chuck McMains of Baton Rouge and the rest is history. Louisiana is one of over 15 other states with their own Tartan.
The tartan consists of four colors, namely:
- Blue for the sky, lakes, bayous, rivers and waterways
- Green for agriculture and forests
- White for rice, sugar cane, cotton and the magnolias
- Black for petroleum and natural resources
and is based upon the red, white, blue and black USA Bicentenial tartan. To see the progression of the development of the Louisiana Tartan from the USA tartan, click here.
The Caledonian Society of Baton Rouge was joined in support of the Louisiana by:
- Caledonian Society of Acadiana
- Caledonian Society of New Orleans
- B. R. Highland Dance Club
- North Shore Caledonians
- Order of the Red Thistle (Hammond)
- St. Andrew Society of BR
- St. Andrew’s Society of La.
- The New Orleans Pipes and Drums
- Krewe of the Celts
- Celtic Society of Louisiana
- Margaret Currach Club
- Baton Rouge Irish Club
We invite you to wear the Louisiana tartan proudly and our thanks to those whose hard work and diligence made this tartan a reality.