Three students are competing to have their design as the official tartan of the University of Alabama.

Historically, a tartan was a fabric design worn to distinguish different clans or families, said Shirley Foster, interim department head of the College of Human Environmental Sciences.

Milla Boschung, dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences, said she is proud of the three finalists.

“Michael George, UA Registrar, came to us to ask us if we would be interested in assisting in the development of a UA tartan,” Boschung said. “Marcy Koontz, associate professor of apparel design, took the lead by researching the official tartan society, the meaning of tartans, and other universities that have official tartans.

“Our apparel design program is one of the best, and we are so pleased that Koontz took the lead with the project that has provided an excellent opportunity for our students,” Boschung said.

According to Boschung, Facebook pages, e-mails and posters around campus publicize the competition. By public vote, the nine contestants were narrowed down to three finalists: Brittany Long, a junior majoring in apparel and textile design; Candace Lucas, a senior majoring in apparel and textile design; and Linnzi Rich, a junior majoring in interior design.

Lucas said much research about the history of the campus went into her design.

“I wanted to connect the past to the present and the present to the future,” Lucas said.

Lucas said she picked her design after drawing a lot and asking opinions from friends.

The design is called “Family Tides,” a gray, red and black plaid design, representative of the history of the University of Alabama.

“The green lines are placed directly in the center of the design and are representative of the Quad with relation to its central location on campus,” Lucas said.

According to a UA news press release about Lucas’ design, the crimson lines represent all those who have walked the Quad and those who will walk the Quad in the future.

Rich said that she wanted to make the University distinct within her design.

“I wanted to make it easily recognized as the University’s plaid,” Rich said. “I wanted there to be no question as to which university it represented. I hoped the public would see it and relate to it.”

Rich said that it was difficult to represent the whole University, but she chose 13 lines for the 13 colleges.

“I made about 65 to 70 designs,” Rich said. “I enjoyed making all of it, and the process was exciting knowing that one of the designs would be chosen. I love my design and how everything came together, and I would be honored if my design represented the University.”

Long said that, when designing her tartan, she enjoyed learning about the University’s past.

“I thought it was really cool to look back at the school’s history,” Long said. “I went on the school website on the history section and looked at the timeline and what I thought was important to incorporate in the tartan.”

More than 400,000 votes were cast, according to the project’s website, bama.ua.edu/~tartandesign/.

A panel of judges will make the final decision at the College of Human Environmental Sciences Alumni Appreciation Convocation at 3 p.m. on Friday. The winning design will be recorded in the International Tartan Index, Scottish Tartans Authority and the National Tartan Registry, Boschung said.

The winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and a portion of the proceeds from the sales of the tartan, Foster said. The College of Human Environmental Sciences will also receive a portion of the proceeds, which will go towards scholarships.

“This is a historic opportunity to be able to do this,” Foster said.