A few months ago, I stumbled across the Nevada State Tartan. Finding the fact we have a state tartan amusing, I printed the Tartan and posted it on my office door.
So I’ve seen it innumerable times day after day for the past few months.
When I was at the Scottish festival, there are a lot of tartans floating around, but when the Las Vegas Pipe Band came on the stage, the tartan hit me like a shot of lightning from a clear sky.
I had always assumed that such complicated patterns would meld together and generally meaningless in the real world, but clearly I was wrong.
The tartan can be a potent symbol as long as it burrows into your visual landscape of daily life.
1. The tartan designed by Richard Zygmunt Pawlowski and further described in this section is hereby designated as the official state tartan of the State of Nevada. The colors and design of the tartan represent the following features that make Nevada a unique and bountiful state:
NRS 235.150
(a) Blue represents one of the state colors of Nevada, the pristine waters of Lake Tahoe and the Mountain Bluebird, the official state bird;
(b) Silver represents the other state color, the official state mineral, the granite composition of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and the silver country of northern Nevada;
(c) Red represents the Virgin Valley black fire opal, the official state precious gemstone, and the red rock formations of southern Nevada;
(d) Yellow represents Sagebrush, the official state flower, and symbolizes the Great Basin Region of central Nevada;
(e) White represents the name of this state meaning snow-covered, which is the translation of the Spanish word “nevada”;
(f) The crossing of the yellow and red stripes represents the different colors of Nevada sandstone, the official state rock;
(g) The white intersection on the silver field stands for the snow-capped peaks of granite mountains, which make up the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range;
(h) The four blue lines represent the four main rivers of Nevada which are the Colorado River, Truckee River, Humboldt River and Walker River;
(i) The intersecting blue lines in the silver field represent the Colorado River as it meets Hoover Dam and creates Lake Mead;
(j) The small solid “boxes” of silver and blue number 8 by 8, or 64, to signify the year (1864) that Nevada was admitted into statehood;
(k) The 13 solid-colored intersections of the small stripes represent Boundary Peak, the highest point in Nevada, which stands at an elevation of 13,143 feet; and
(l) The 16 solid silver intersections and the solid white intersection in the center of the tartan represent the 16 counties and the one consolidated city-county government of Nevada.