A tartan among us

**corbmonster** · 18th May 14, 02:50 PM

Disclaimer: This is another 'what tartan should I wear', and 'what the heck am I doing' thread. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems their are universal, and nonuniversal tartans. The universal are ones that anyone could wear. And while there is no tartan police par sey... the non-universal ones are meant to be exclusive to clans / family / heritage, location, or affiliation (military, university). I had posted a while back about purchasing my first kilt, I got a Ramsey Blue. After the fact, I learned I have a lot of Scottish heritage, and none to Ramsey. And it felt weird to wear someone else's stuff. And I'd rather get something that is more applicable to me. Is that odd? Or am I really overthinking this? I wanted to exchange the kilt for one of my familys tartans, but they do not offer one. Ones that I could exchange for are: Black, Black Watch, Douglas, Freedom, Gunn, Hamilton Grey, Heritage of Ireland, Heritage of Scotland, MacDonald, MacKenzie, Ramsay Blue, Scottish National, Stewart Black, Stewart Royal. Am I safe in assuming heritage of Scotland, and Scottish national are universal? I'm not sure what else would be other than black, and heritage of ireland.

Thanks in advance for educating me.

**KSmedic** · 18th May 14, 04:00 PM

Of those listed, I'm sure that Black, Black Watch, Freedom, Heritage of Ireland, Heritage of Scotland, and Scottish National are universal tartans. I can totally understand not wanting to wear the "wrong" tartan. I did a fair bit of research before ordering my tartan kilt, to make sure I got the correct one.

**corbmonster** · 18th May 14, 04:13 PM

I was at a ren faire and wanted a kilt. It was one that me and my now ex gf liked. At the time I didn't think I had any heritage so, any 'pattern' would do.

**KSmedic** · 18th May 14, 04:45 PM

Really, there's nothing wrong with that. Outside of Scotland, nobody's all that likely to know the difference between one tartan and another, and clan specific tartans are really just a marketing gimmick invented by 18th century weavers, anyway. If you're cool with wearing the tartan, go ahead and wear it.

**California Highlander** · 18th May 14, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by KSmedic

Really, there's nothing wrong with that. Outside of Scotland, nobody's all that likely to know the difference between one tartan and another, and clan specific tartans are really just a marketing gimmick invented by 18th century weavers, anyway. If you're cool with wearing the tartan, go ahead and wear it.

True, one of my kilts is Black Watch and about 1/3 to 1/2 of the time the question is "Is that your family tartan?"

**corbmonster** · 18th May 14, 08:41 PM

Ha ha, the lady I was talking to said a LOT of people wear it. But she said it was a military tartan too. And as nice as it is, being a military man myself, I wouldn't want to wear another unit's insignia.

On another off topic note, xmarksthescot web page works really well on my phone. Honestly, this is probably the best I've ever seen a web forum work on a mobile device browser, and not an app. Kudos.

**Geoff Withnell** · 19th May 14, 04:53 AM

Originally Posted by corbmonster

Ha ha, the lady I was talking to said a LOT of people wear it. But she said it was a military tartan too. And as nice as it is, being a military man myself, I wouldn't want to wear another unit's insignia.

So many different units, pipe bands, etc., use Black Watch, I can safely assure that no one will think you are wearing another unit's insignia. If I may ask, what is your military association?

**corbmonster** · 19th May 14, 07:47 AM

If I may ask, what is your military association?

I was in the US Navy for 5 years. I did get to serve with some devil dogs on occasion.

So many different units, pipe bands, etc., use Black Watch

Duly noted. And thank you for the info. I honestly thought different units and pipe bands would use their own applicable tartans. Thanks for the info everyone.

**McMurdo** · 19th May 14, 08:11 AM

Originally Posted by corbmonster

I was in the US Navy for 5 years. I did get to serve with some devil dogs on occasion.

Why not look into the US Navy tartan? Here is an old thread on it

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...uestion-63508/

**Tomak** · 19th May 14, 08:23 AM

I went through a similar, long process of trying to decide which tartan. In the end I went with the U.S. Army, because after 20 years of service, they ARE my clan. Whatever you decide, wear it with pride.