BAGPIPES and marching drums will echo down the streets of New York City as world-famous landmarks are lit up blue and white for this year’s Tartan Day.

But what exactly is all the fuss about?

What is Tartan Day?

This is the name given to the date on which countries around the world celebrate their links to Scotland and the contributions of Scottish migrants to their nations.

Most famously, the day is celebrated in North America on April 6, to mark the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath.

The National: Possibly Scotland's most famous Latin document – the Declaration of Arbroath.

Signed in 1320, this is cited as an inspiration for the American Declaration of Independence and contains the famous lines: “As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule.

“It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

Other nations, such as Australia and New Zealand, also celebrate a Tartan Day, on July 1. This marks the date in 1782 when the Act of Proscription 1746, which banned the wearing of “Highland dress” in the wake of the Jacobite Rebellion, was finally repealed.

Where did Tartan Day begin?

Tartan Day can trace its origins to the Scottish diaspora in Canada, specifically to a meeting of the Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia (New Scotland in Latin) on March 9, 1986.

Members Bill Crowell and Jean MacKeracher-Watson put forward the following motion: "That we establish a day known as 'Tartan Day'. This to be a day chosen to promote Scottish Heritage by the most visible means. The wearing of the Scottish attire, especially in places where the kilt is not ordinarily worn, i.e.: work, play or worship."

MacKeracher-Watson then went to every provincial government across Canada to ensure the day was widely recognised. The first, Ontario, joined Nova Scotia in 1991.

In 1992 a further five provinces, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta, signed up. These were followed by New Brunswick in 1993, Newfoundland and Labrador in 1995, and finally by Quebec in 2003.

Scotland’s Culture Secretary Angus Robertson shared a photograph of a visit to Niagara Falls, which straddles the US-Canadian border. The world-famous landmark was lit up blue and white in honour of the Scottish day.

But isn’t it more of a US celebration?

While the day began in Canada, the United States has run wild with the idea. New York City has the largest Tartan Day event, with a parade through the city attracting thousands every year.

This year’s parade, which will be led by Inverness-born Hollywood star Karen Gillan, will take place on April 9. Billy Connelly, Brian Cox, and Outlander stars Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish have all been grand marshalls of the parade in the past.

Tartan Day in the US was agreed by the Senate in 1998, which designated April 6 of each year as “National Tartan Day".

The resolution stated: “April 6 has a special significance for all Americans, and especially those Americans of Scottish descent, because the Declaration of Arbroath, the Scottish Declaration of Independence, was signed on April 6, 1320 and the American Declaration of Independence was modeled on that inspirational document.”

A near-identical resolution was passed by the US House of Representatives in 2005, and this was reinforced by a presidential proclamation in 2008.

Then leader George W Bush said: “The Declaration of Arbroath, the Scottish Declaration of Independence signed in 1320, embodied the Scots' strong dedication to liberty, and the Scots brought that tradition of freedom with them to the New World.

“I call upon all Americans to observe this day by celebrating the continued friendship between the people of Scotland and the United States.”

Nowadays, April 6 is marked by celebrations across the States, with ceilidhs, Highlands dances, and bagpipes processions through towns across the nation.

Is everyone happy with how Tartan Day is celebrated?

According to John King Bellassai, the president of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations (Cosca) and vice president of the National Capital Tartan Day Committee, the day has lost its original meaning.

Writing on the National Trust for Scotland website in 2020, Bellassai says that, like Christmas, the day has become “surrounded with glitz and glamour”.

He says the day was not “meant to be about parades and bagpipes”, and criticised the Scottish Government and business community for wanting to make it a “Tartan week” to better market their goods and services.

“From the beginning [it] was intended to be all about understanding and celebrating the many contributions made by Scots, and Scottish-Americans, to the founding and building of the United States,” he wrote.