Plaid can be distinguished by its line symmetries and colors. Plaids today are made up of crossed horizontal and vertical lines of two or more colors; however, unlike tartans, plaids do not have to be perfectly even, which means that vertical stripe patterns do not have to match horizontal stripe patterns. Plaids come in a variety of bandwidths, repeats, and colors. Plaid is synonymous with Scotland and its rich tartan history. Fortunately, you can still enjoy this pattern even if you don’t have Scottish ancestry.