Helen Zille was spotted wearing it at the opening of Parliament on 11 February and then on 27 February, SA designer Craig Native incorporated it into a fashion show at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

We’re talking about the new South African tartan, created by Tartans 4 Africa, a Cape Town based company that designs, manufactures, markets and sells very unique African tartans which are based upon the national flags of the countries that are in the portfolio. From Congo to Kenya, Mozambique to Malawi, Nigeria to Namibia, each tartan stands for unity and peace. Unlike national flags which cannot be used as tablecloths or a covering for an altar as this is protected by the constitutions, the tartan can be used in all kinds of ways such as clothing, upholstery and design.

The flagship of the portfolio is the new South Africa Tartan, brought together from single, fine strands of wool or mohair to form a strong, tight knit cloth, much as the people of our nation can be if we all move forward together and positively for the future of the nation.

You can wear a sash in the tartan, have a brooch pinned to it, make a tea cosy, a blanket or even underwear or pajamas. Your golf clubs can be covered in it, your boat can be painted in it, but whatever or however you wear it or show it, one thing is for sure and that is that you belong to clan South Africa with the South Africa tartan.

The South African tartan is 100% South African – sustainable, animal friendly, creating local jobs, carbon footprint free and starting from R222 per metre. In Scotland, a metre costs R500-R700 on average, with wool that comes from Australia thus adding a huge carbon footprint.

“We have submitted the tartan to the State Heralds office in Pretoria and it has been welcomed with open arms. There never has been one before and the tartan, with all the colours of the national flag, opitimises a national cloth,” said the creators, “we are passionate about the South Africa tartan as it also represents and comes under the auspices of what is known as 'clan'.”

A clan is a group or movement of people that have the same ideologies and wishing to move in the same direction, helping and supporting each other. No president or other high ranking official, manager or any other person for that matter is above you as a member of clan South Africa and we all show respect to each other. It is for all South Africans, be they at home or abroad. You can be a Zulu, Afrikaner, Xhosa, Muslim, Jew or Christian but to name a few.

We have started a movement on Facebook called Clan South Africa. We want to break a world record by building up the biggest clan that the world has ever witnessed, by registering one million members by the end of 2010 with the Guinness Book of World Records.

We even have an anthem for the tartan and clan, so the passion and drive to succeed is already starting to gain momentum. Climb aboard now and be part of history and help us to spread the word by telling people about this new iconic South African emblem.