Quote Originally Posted by wyldathart View Post
In another thread it was talked about that an armigerous clan was one that had no chief. Of course having no chief, the clan was therefore broken. Someone had mentioned that all clans are armigerous. I don't don't know if that was in jest or not but I do know for fact that Clan Cochrane can trace the line of chiefs unbroken to present day. Ending with the currently alive and well Hereditary Clan chief, The right Honorable Iain Alexander Douglas Blair Cochrane,
The 15th Earl of Dundonald. I'm not meaning to be argumentative but I don't think all clans are Armigerous.
Armigerous means "having arms" that is to say a coat of arms. It has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not the Chiefship of a Clan is dormant or vacant. The word "Clan" is from the Gaelic term Clann, meaning "offspring". I believe that the general rule of thumb is that clans are family groups having been "received" by the monarchy, that is that they are "noble" (meaning "known" to the Crown) by virtue of the fact that the herditary arms are recorded by the Lord Lyon as a representative of the Crown. So, to be a Clan, a family is required to be armigerous, and thus having been received and acknowledged by the monarchy.