Where to wear clan badge...

[NewEnglander]

I've had a MacPherson clan badge for years, long before I ever bought my kilt. But I've never known where the proper place to wear it was. Thanks to this forum I've learned that badges are usually worn on one's bonnet. But if one doesn't wear any headgear is there someplace else one can proudly wear their clan badge?

[Big Mikey]

Use it as a kilt pin, especially if you have a kilt in clan tartan.

[saharris]

Someone here wrote that they wear it on the pocet of their jacket. Sounded like a good idea to me.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

You might want to consider wearing it on you sporran.

[NewEnglander]

Thanks for all the quick input. I had considered wearing it in the place of a kilt pin, but didn't know if that was an acceptable practice.
MacMillan, how would you attach it to your sporran? I don't actually have one yet -- it'll arrive with my kilt from Rocky early in December! Also, I have a MacMillan waaaaaay back in my family tree somewhere up in Canada. I don't think I've ever seen that tartan though...

[ThistleDown]

Sir William Macpherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie, August 2009: three feathers behind his silver crest on his bonnet and a second belted crest backed by a sprig of red whostleberry on his lapel.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Thanks for all the quick input. I had considered wearing it in the place of a kilt pin, but didn't know if that was an acceptable practice.
MacMillan, how would you attach it to your sporran?

I took my sporran to the local shoe repair shop and had them punch two holes in the flap to accommodate the hinge and the clasp on the back of the clan badge, thus allowing it to lay flat on the flap.

The idea of wearing a full-size clan badge on the lapel of the jacket is something that I think some of the chiefs do at clan gatherings to help their clanfolk recognize them (many of those attending these gatherings have never seen their chief before). It's my opinion that this is something that should be regarded as the sole prerogative of one's chief, and probably shouldn't be done by others in the clan.

[macwilkin]

The idea of wearing a full-size clan badge on the lapel of the jacket is something I think that many of the chiefs do at clan gatherings to help their clanfolk recognize them (many of those attending these gatherings have never seen their chief before). It's my opinion that this is something that should be regarded as the sole prerogative of one's chief, and probably shouldn't be done by others in the clan.

I would agree with Rathdown on this point; wearing a full-size clan badge on a lapel or breast pocket just doesn't look right to me. It's too big for the former and too small for the latter, and in the case of the pocket, it appears to be a copy of a bullion blazer badge, which really should be worn on a blazer/club jacket.

I like the look of a clan badge on a bonnet.

T.

[piperdbh]

If we're talking about one of the silver dollar-sized badges that Gaelic Themes sells, and you want to wear it as a kilt pin, I'd suggest wearing it high instead of low. The momentum created by walking will swing the weight of the badge around, and you'll knock it into everything at knee level, if you wear it low. Wearing it high will bring the eye to it differently than if it were worn low, causing the badge to be noticed. And it's all about being noticed!

[Zardoz]

Sir William Macpherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie, August 2009: three feathers behind his silver crest on his bonnet and a second belted crest backed by a sprig of red whostleberry on his lapel.

off topic, but those two fellows' outfits display some interesting combos of plaid/stripe/check/tartan, fashion-wise.


on topic, I've seen folks wear their clan badge on their jacket breast pocket like a blazer patch. I don't know if I'd do that though.