Postcode Tartan: press kit

The story in one paragraph

Postcodes UK, an independent British postcode data site, has given every UK postcode its own tartan. Each of the country's 1.8 million postcodes is converted into binary, and that binary pattern is used to weave a unique, repeatable tartan sett, coloured by the postcode's region: Highland greens in Scotland, claret in London, red in Wales. Anyone can type their postcode at postcodesuk.com/postcode-tartan, watch their tartan weave itself, and download it free, together with the thread count a weaver would need to make it real.

Why it was built

The project began as a question: could Britain's two great identity systems, tartan setts and postcodes, be joined? Both compress belonging into a short code. Rather than licensing a third-party location scheme, Postcodes UK built its own: a small deterministic algorithm (no AI) that turns any postcode into cloth, with the same postcode always weaving the same tartan.

What makes it unique

• First project to give every UK postcode a woven visual identity.
• Authentic tartan construction: symmetric setts, warp and weft blending, twill texture, and a real thread count for each design.
• Regional colour families, so neighbouring postcodes visibly rhyme.
• Deterministic and transparent: the algorithm is explained in full on the site.

Facts at a glance

• Covers all UK postcodes: about 1.8 million live codes.
• Every postcode generates the same tartan every time, forever.
• Generated algorithmically from the postcode's binary. No AI involved.
• Eight regional colour families across the UK's nations and regions.
• Free to use: SVG, PNG and phone-wallpaper downloads for every postcode.
• Each design comes with its weaving spec: colourway and thread count.
• Not registered tartans; no clan or official status claimed.
• Launched 24 July 2026 by Postcodes UK (postcodesuk.com).

Story angles

• Every UK postcode now has its own tartan.
• A developer turned postcode data into digital textile art.
• Traditional tartans meet modern algorithms.
• Discover the hidden pattern in your postcode.
• What does your street's tartan look like? Neighbouring postcodes weave in the same colours.

Quotes you can lift

The algorithm, in brief

Each character of the postcode becomes an 8-bit byte, giving a binary string. That string is folded into a single number (an FNV-1a hash), which seeds a deterministic generator (mulberry32). The generator deals out stripe colours and widths, alternating broad grounds with narrow guard lines, and the half-sett is mirrored, as genuine reflective tartans are. The postcode's region selects one of eight palettes. The weave is drawn as vertical warp threads at full strength with horizontal weft threads at half opacity over them, so crossings blend exactly as woven cloth does. Full detail: postcodesuk.com/postcode-tartan/how-it-works.

Images and assets

High-resolution examples, screenshots and the site logo. Free for editorial use with attribution to Postcodes UK. Need a specific postcode's tartan at print resolution? Generate it on the main page (SVG scales to any size), or email us.

Example tartans

Contact

Email [email protected] and we will come back quickly. We are happy to generate specific tartans, provide data, or give further comment.