"Rules" for wearing family tartan

[davidlpope]

Just out of curiousity....how many here agree that a clan chief is "entitled" to the "right" of wearing three eagle feathers in his bonnet?

I do. That "right" is codified and enforced by the legal jurisdiction of the Lord Lyon's court. See the website which contains the pertinent quote, below: http://www.lyon-court.com/lordlyon/242.html

Chiefs of Clans

Chiefs have the right to wear their Crests as badges

either simpliciter, without the accompaniment of circlet, motto or feathers behind the badge.
or, as is more usual, surrounded with a plain circlet inscribed with his Motto or Slogan, NOT a strap-and-buckle which is for clansmen; and, if they choose, with THREE eagle’s feathers in silver behind the circlet.
Chiefs

Heads of large branches of a Clan, who have been Officially Recognised as Chiefs by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, may wear:

either their own personal Crest within a plain circlet inscribed with the Motto, as for a Chief, but with two small eagles' feathers instead of the Chief’s three. If the Chieftain is also a Peer, he may add the appropriate coronet of rank on top of the circlet,
or they may wear their Chief’s Crest badge without feather like any other clansman, as described for clansmen, below.
Armigers

A person who has registered his or her own coat of Arms and Crest, or inherited these according to the Laws of Arms in Scotland from an ancestor who had recorded them in the Lyon Register, may wear their own Crest as a badge:

either on its Wreath, Crest Coronet or Chapeau,
or, as is more usual, within a plain circlet inscribed with his Motto.
An armiger may also choose to wear instead the Crest badge of his Chief if the armiger is a clansman. An armiger is entitled to one silver eagle's feather behind the plain circlet, and if he is also a Peer he may add his appropriate coronet of rank on top of the circlet.

If there was a legal authority that governed the wear and use of tartans, then there could also be "rights" related to them. As the current situation presents itself, I maintain that only the chief of a clan may make any sort of "authoritative" decision concerning his or her clan's tartan. Even then, that authority is "moral", instead of "legal" as there is no court with jurisdiction over the wear and use of tartan (except in those rare cases where a tartan has been copyrighted, such as the Isle of Skye sett.)

Cordially,

David