Fashion Tartan

The Meaning Behind the Tartan Design

The Tartan apparel was developed as a project of the UIW Fashion Design Program. It is based on the school colors and represents the history of the University of the Incarnate Word. The tartan depicts the UIW colors of red and black, and the three white lines interwoven into the pattern represent the three sisters who in 1869 founded the congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, which still sponsors UIW today.

History of UIW

The Mission of the University is derived from the history of its founders, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, who came to San Antonio in 1869, shortly after the close of the Civil War. The first Sisters, who were from France, came at the request of the Catholic bishop, Claude M. Dubuis, to care for the victims of an epidemic of cholera and to establish the city's first hospital, the Santa Rosa Infirmary.