Louise Marshall, who is originally from Annan, was chosen as the official World Fair Trade Tartan piper and joined a delegation of 13 in New York to publicise the new tartan.

Created to promote the country’s status as a Fair Trade Nation the tartan was on show as part of the parade on Saturday on the city’s Sixth Avenue.

The brainchild of the president of the World Fair Trade Organisation, Rudi Dalai, the tartan was created and registered by Hand Up Events, whose director Tania Pramschufer joined Rudi and Louise during the parade.

Louise Mitchell (centre) wearing the fair trade tartan with friends in New York at the Tartan Day Parade. Picture: Martin McAdam

The distinctive tartan was designed in collaboration with House of Edgar, with the textile designers replicating the well-known and distinctive Fair Trade colours of green and blue in the woven design.

Louise, who was chosen in 2010 chosen to pipe for Her Majesty the Queen at the naming ceremony of the ‘Queen Elizabeth’ ocean liner in Southampton and also performed for Pope Benedict XVI during his state visit to Edinburgh, told the Edinburgh Reporter: “It is a huge honour to have been invited to participate in my very first NYC Tartan Day Parade.

The piper, who played her father’s 120 year-old Robertson bagpipes and sported the new tartan said she was really happy to support the organisation by being their official piper.

Ms Marshall also played at the British Consul General’s residence on Friday and at a brunch for Edinburgh Napier on Saturday.

Edinburgh piper wows crowds at New York Tartan Day Parade