Apr 7, 2014 By Deana Carpenter 3 min read

The Pittsburgh area is not lacking in Scottish roots. In fact, the city was named by a Scot – General John Forbes. Another Scot, Andrew Carnegie, was instrumental in Pittsburgh being known as the Steel City. It’s only fitting that a city so rich in Scottish history would dedicate a day to celebrating all things Scottish.

Tartan Day, a free event, was held all day April 5 at Bethel Presbyterian Church. It is a day celebrated all over the country that began in 1998 when a coalition of Scottish-Americans lobbied Senator Trent Lott to have April 6 dedicated as National Tartan day.

The St. Andrew’s Society of Pittsburgh, a local organization formed in 1990 dedicated to preserving Scottish heritage and traditions, sponsored Pittsburgh’s Tartan Day. Robert Murdoch, a founding member of the St. Andrew’s Society, led the efforts to create Tartan Day.

“It’s been great. A lot of people are coming through the door,” said Ken Stiles, a member of the St. Andrew’s Society.

Although it was free to get in to Tartan Day, Stiles said folks were encouraged to participate in the many raffles and drawings happening throughout the day. The money raised from the day goes toward scholarships to Pittsburgh-area students pursuing studies in Scottish arts.

Several workshops and entertainers were on hand for Tartan Day. Those attending could listen to bagpipers, watch Scottish Dancers and take workshops on everything from genealogy to whiskey.

Scottish food was also available. Foods included meat pie, shepherd’s pie, sausage rolls and shortbread and cranberry orange scones for dessert.

One display in particular was drawing lots of attention at Tartan Day and that was Pittsburgh’s very own tartan, designed by Kathy Wells.

The tartan features black and gold as well as red and blue stripes.

“We have a Pittsburgh tartan,” said Paul Thompson, president of the St. Andrew’s Society of Pittsburgh. He said the society has been presenting the tartan, which is being copyrighted, at Pittsburgh City Council meetings and hopes to go to Scotland to make the tartan “official.”

“Black and gold was originally on Pittsburgh’s coat of arms,” Wells said.

The blue and red comes from the U.S. Steel or USX logo, which bore three diamond shapes with concave sides in yellow, red and blue – now well-known as part of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ logo. The tartan also features three blue stripes, which represent Pittsburgh’s three rivers.