How many tartans does your clan/sept/surname have?

[skauwt]

this is a query Ive been pondering lately and im interested to see how many tartans each clan/sept surname has

my clan well surname i should say has 8-9 tartans according to the register of tartans ...that isn't including the ancient or weathered tartans that you can buy from most tartan suppliers ,well then it would knock that total to around 12 plus id imagine
now as much as id love all the kilts in each tartan i know that would never happen
i was thinking though 12 plus tartans is a fair amount of tartans for a wee clan is this the norm with most clans and do you think like me that the list will just keep growing to the tartans with respect to families around the world have tartans made and verified in the register and within the clans and so on and so forth

so folks how many tartans does your clan/sept/surname have

[Paul]

Well technically my father's side (my surname) has every Buchanan tartan - but we were too busy farming in Donegal to worry about clans or anything like that! Side not: I don't like the Buchanan tartan either!
My mum's side - Campbell as basically Campbell Ancient and Black Watch - as we're not of Argyll etc. - we're of Dublin!

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Remember folks that color variations -- ancient, modern, weathered, muted, reproduction, etc. -- do not different tartans make.

So, for example, my grandmother's name of Armstrong has one tartan. And that one tartan can be woven in the ancient colors, or modern colors, or weathered colors, etc. But it's one tartan.

[skauwt]

Remember folks that color variations -- ancient, modern, weathered, muted, reproduction, etc. -- do not different tartans make.

So, for example, my grandmother's name of Armstrong has one tartan. And that one tartan can be woven in the ancient colors, or modern colors, or weathered colors, etc. But it's one tartan.

so is there one armstrong tartan in the register or a few ?
thats the point im kinda trying to get across even if there is 9 tartans in my surname and they all stem from one tartan either way you look at it there still gonna be 9 tartans in the register under my surname and all more or less having there own look to them and in some cases history like the colonial tartan
i just wondered if 9 tartans per clan/sept/surname was a common thing

[Chas]

In the Scottish Register of Tartans there is only one Armstrong.

Regards

Chas

[HeathBar]

Barclay has two. Dress and hunting. I would say that most have two or three. That is usually the regular(usually just the name of the clan), hunting, and dress.

One thing to consider is if the chief of the clan recognizes the tartan as a clan tartan. For instance the chief of clan Campbell does not recognize Campbell of Argyll as a clan tartan. To him it is a fashion tartan. The chief has the final say.

[MacBubba45]

Remember folks that color variations -- ancient, modern, weathered, muted, reproduction, etc. -- do not different tartans make.

So, for example, my grandmother's name of Armstrong has one tartan. And that one tartan can be woven in the ancient colors, or modern colors, or weathered colors, etc. But it's one tartan.

What an excellent point! By this reckoning, Colquhoun has one tartan, in Ancient and Modern (the two (my edit) most common); a Hunting of which I've only seen one kilt made of this; and a Dress of which I've only seen a computer composed image...but it's a looker because we've got such a damn good looking tartan to work with.

Dress:



But I still prefer Modern even tho' I have kilts in both Modern and Ancient:

[vipermcgee]

As a Crawford, we have the usual variants, plus Crawford Arisaid (dance). Some wear the tartans of Clans Lindsay, Boyd, or Wallace. Oh, and Limerick County. Anyone care to count all that for us?

Robert


PS Matt, did I leave anything out? Most of this is from the Scottish Tartan Authority website, and a little from other personal research and a few books.

[macwilkin]

This would be a great thread for the heraldry & tartans section!

T.

[Livingston]

The Chief of Clan MacLea/Livingstone has officially recognized the ancient, muted and modern colors which would be no. 1003 in the Tarton Index; Dress which is no. 650; and MacLay which is no. 1488.