Burberry's Check - sometimes called the Nova - has become synonymous with that British brand's identity in popular consciousness. It was introduced in the 1920s as a lining to Burberry's already emblematic trench coat, actually just one of a spectrum of tartans and plaids then in use. By the 1960s, customers were coming and specifically asking for coats sporting the beige, black and scarlet crosshatch at Burberry's Haymarket flagship in London.