The rich history of Ballarat has been woven into Scottish tartan cloth. In Scotland, a plaid is a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder as a kilt accessory, or a plain ordinary blanket such as one would have on a bed. The hand-woven tartan is designed by exhibition officer Ben Cox as part of the exhibition.

The 28 meter roll was woven in Scotland and has since been registered among thousands of other familu pattern on the Scottish Register of Tartan, which arrived on Friday at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

The grey represents the foundations of Ballarat, the dark blue is the Eureka flag, white is the quartz and the stars of the Eureka flag and a seam of gold.

The tartan will be used for bunting and gallery staff will wear it as sashes. However, the tartan’s first sub-division will be for an apron at the Ballarat Apron Festival.

Members of the Ballarat Textile Network and Ballarat Spinners and Weavers group will be demonstrating on how to weave the tartan using a handloom at the entrance of the exhibition at the weekend. They have chosen to expand the design and make it easier to see on the loom.

According to Gallery director Gordon Morrison, the tartan design was sent to Scotland in February, and the long wait was worth to see the design turned into real fabric. They are now planning to create mementoes for the exhibition.