The Dutch- and French familiy names of resp. van Koperen and Benoist are combined to construct the Gaelic name Copar a'Beannichte for this tartan, which means:The Blessed Copper. This restricted family tartan was designed and produced as a way to say "thank you" to close members of both families for allways being there in times of need. The regular tartan is a tribute to the late mr. W. van Koperen. The dress version is a tribute to mrs. Y. Ch. van Koperen- Benoist. The green checks represent the Van Koperen family and the navy blue ones the Benoist family. colour codes: Green & Blue-green together = oxidised copper, Green=the fields in The Netherlands and the hills in Scotland, Blue-green = The colour of rivers, lochs,lakes and ditches in full sunlight, reflecting the clear sky.
Navy Blue = The North Sea and the water that is so abundant in the Netherlands and Scotland, as well as a colour used in the flags of Scotland , the Netherlands and France,
Light Grey = The cloudy skies over Scotland and The Netherlands,
Red = Compassion and the blood binding the two families.
Dark Green ( white in the dress version) =Wisdom and tranquility.
Designed by M.R. van Koperen Registered by The Scottish Tartans Authority, June the 1st 2005
If you think you can hold me down I beg to differ If you think you can twist my words I'll sing forever
Tha gach uile dhuine air a bhreth saor agus co-ionnan ann an urram 's ann an còirichean. Tha iad air am breth le reusan is le cogais agus mar sin bu chòir dhaibh a bhith beò nam measg fhein ann an spiorad bràthaireil
If you think you can hold me down I beg to differ If you think you can twist my words I'll sing forever
This is the tartan tributed to your father? Thanks for sharing. Very memorable.
Yes Eventide , this is the one, the avatar shows the image of it ( regular tartan) The image attached with this reply shows the dress version. Greetz, Marc
Unfortunately the image of the dress tartan is not very good, probably due to the resolution. Will try to find a pic that is clearer. You can also go to www. houseoftartan. co. uk or www.scottishtartansauthority and search in the tartan finder for Copar a'Beannichte to get a good image of both varieties.
How delightful! I envy you! You've spun a thread of history in a way that carries weight, a living testimony to your heritage. Creates a strong bond, something to be proud of. Nice pic., cheers! Renee
This is very interesting...and it has been registered and is now recognized as an official tartan? How wonderful for your families... Your pic of you & your Mum at Stirling is wonderful as well. I was there last summer and really enjoyed my time at Stirling - it was a misty/rainy day and I just loved it! Glad to hear more from you and thanks for sharing your bit of 'new' history in the Copar a'Beannichte tartan!
?? Do I also note that: Designed by M.R. van Koperen - is this M.R. van Koperen you??? So you actually designed the tartan yourself??? My that is wonderful and something to be quite proud of! I am sure your family is only to happy to display their very own tartan now! Congrats on your accomplishment!!
Dear Amy, It has officially been registered and yes I did the design. It took me about a year to complete it before having it woven. It was quite a task to get the result and character I had in mind. There are so many thing you have to think about besides the technical things like the minimum and maximum amount of threads in a set. It really is like painting. Colours have their own life and react to other colours, their reaction changes depending on the broadness of the stripes they form. There are the marls, the parts where two colours mix( is the mix a nice colour); the full colour blocks, formed by the crosspoints of two simular coulored stripes(are their dimensions ok in relation to the rest) I had to adjust the design probably a hundred times to get the character I wanted. Then ofcourse I wasn't sure if it did not already exist or was to much resembling an existing tartan. But I got a lot of help there from the company that would have the tartan woven, they did a thourough check in their database before sending the design to the weaver. The thing is you see, that you have to have a sample woven to send with the apply for registration. The minimum you can have woven is 5 meters. The chance that registration will be refused does exist, so waiting for the reply is rather an exiting time. I did a lot of tartan checking myself as well and could not find any resemblance, it seemed unique. But then again , you never know what might be discovered by the registry office and they are very strict. Luckily it all went fine and on the day I came back from my holidays to Bonnie Scotland the certificats for both varieties were in the letter box. I must admid, I am as proud as an old monkey ( like we say in the Netherlands). Kindest regards to all of you whom have responded so positively and warm to my post. Marc.