In 1953 a textile mural was being prepared for display at the agricultural exhibition in Truro, Nova Scotia. So as neither to favour nor offend any individual clan, the tiny swatch that was to make up the kilt of a wee shepherd was designed using Nova Scotian references: blue and white for the sea, greens for our forests, red for the royal lion on the Shield of Arms, and gold for the province's historic Royal Charter.

It was never intended to go farther than that. But that tiny kilt created such a stir that steps were taken to register the tartan at the Court of The Lord Lyon, King of Arms in Scotland. It was officially adopted by the province in 1955 as the first provincial tartan in Canada.