Tartan is a pattern of crisscrossing horizontal and vertical stripes in multiple colors, creating a checkered design. You've probably seen tartan on flannel shirts, skirts, or blankets: those distinctive patterns where colored stripes overlap to form squares.

Tartan comes from Scotland, where different patterns traditionally belonged to different clans (family groups). Each Scottish clan had its own tartan design, like the Campbell clan's blue and green pattern or the Royal Stewart's bold red. Wearing your clan's tartan was a way of showing which family you belonged to and taking pride in your heritage.

Today, tartan appears everywhere from school uniforms to holiday decorations. Fashion designers use tartan patterns (often called plaid in North America) on everything from backpacks to pajamas. The Scottish tradition continues too: when people of Scottish descent attend formal events or weddings, they might wear kilts made from their family's tartan.

Whether you call it tartan or plaid, it's that classic crisscross pattern that somehow looks both cozy and elegant at the same time.

As an adjective, tartan describes something made in this pattern, like a tartan scarf or tartan skirt.