The Darien Venture 1698 -1700
The Darien Tartan - registration number 11,741
The design of this tartan was inspired by the ambitious plan by the Company of Scotland to establish a trading colony in the Panama Isthmus in the region of Darien in the late 17th century. The objective was to carve a road through to the Pacific and open an Eastbound gateway for trade from East Asia.
The venture (aka scheme) was destined to fail and saw many brave men and women risk and lose their lives with many never seeing their homeland again. Many factors lead to the failure, including shipwrecks, disease, hunger, despondency, lack of leadership and the Spanish. The Scots were on their own as the English King William of Orange declared the venture illegal. The Spanish saw the Scots as intruders and finally chased them out of Darien.
There are two serendipitous events that resulted from the Darien Venture. First, it precipitated the Act of Union in 1707 whereby Scotland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Secondly, a descendant of one of the survivors who was stranded in Charleston SC, Rev Archibald Stobo, became the 26thPresident of the United States: Theodore Roosevelt Jr. The completion of the Panama Canal became a reality during his term of office. It was opened in 1914, four years after his term was over.
To commemorate this part of Scottish history, Peter Wilson (Great Scot International) and Gordon Kirkbright (GK Textiles) collaborated in the design of tartan, naming it “The Darien Venture”. The principal colors of the tartan are blue for the Scottish Saltire, red for the Panamanian flag, purple for the heather clad hills of Scotland, green for the lush tropical foliage and gold for the equatorial sun.
The tartan design was officially registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans on March 9, 2017, registration number 11,741.
