Kilt pin traditions & standards?

[Taffy Jack]

Hi, all:

Curious to know whether there're are particular form factors, weight, heraldry, tropes, size criteria, etc. that govern how kilt pins should appear.

Thanks!

[Dughlas mor]

Tradition has it that after reviewing a kilted regiment or two one windy day, Queen Victoria decreed that kilt pins should be worn. Though we can assume that she meant they should be used to pin the aprons together, the kilties knew that was no way to wear a kilt, so the pins went through the outer apron only. In the Highlands, I`m told, many prefer a simple horse blanket pin, or something subtle for day wear, maybe something a bit shinier for evenings. There is a great thread in the "How to Accessorize your Kilt" forum called "Show us your kilt pins." The possibilities are endless, but of course, some prefer not to wear one at all. I own one antique silver claymore pin. I think it has a rampant lion on it. Works for me.

[GrainReaper]

I've seen and own the giant "diaper pin" and the store bought sword pins, but honestly I tend toward ones I make myself, I have pins made from fossils, from an old Native American stone arrowhead I dug up near our cottage, I have a Lego bagpiper kilt pin I made that I'm rather fond of, a few made of antler tips, a bear claw.. If you like it and it keeps your apron from blowing open is at its a good pin!

[Profane James]

Personally, I have a few, but I can't bring myself to stab a hole into my kilt. I feel the same about my cap badges. At this point, I guess it's all for posterity...

[Steve Ashton]

I currently have 8 Tartan kilts. Each has its own kilt pin which lives on that kilt. No two pins are the same nor worn in the same place on the kilt. I just put them on where I think they look best.

Each however is worn somewhere on the right side of the outer apron.

If you think about it. The kilt pin does not hold the kilt closed. In fact if you pin the two aprons together you will probably tear your kilt.
The pin is also not a weight to hold the apron down in the wind as some places suggest. The kilt is a wrap-around garment. If my outer apron blows up I have another one facing the opposite direction right under it.

The kilt pin is like a lady wearing a brooch. That little glint of jewelry in your outfit.

Most kilt pins hold some meaning or significance to the owner. One of mine is a Gold Plated Canadian 1st Nations inspired design given to me on the 15th anniversary of being a Docent at The Royal British Columbia Museum. (After 20 years they mount a diamond in it for me.)

Yes, if you are in a kilted military unit or a pipe band there will be rules and regulations covering the style and placement of the kilt pin. But I'm not a member of a kilted military unit nor am I in a pipe band. I get to wear just about anything I think looks good displayed on my kilt.

I will share a trick with you though. To keep from loosing a kilt pin, slip the fastener through a rubber band on the back side. If the pin comes undone or a clasp falls off, my pin will not fall off. This one little trick has saved my 100 year old antique Sterling Silver and Agate pin from being lost, 3 times now.

[The Q]

I do wonder if pinning the aprons together would tear a kilt, there are between 3 and 8 yards of spare cloth in those pleats, to tear it you would have to grab both sides of the aprons and pull!!!
For me " pins" have to mean something, the four I currently use are a keelboat for which I was class chairman, two for my grandfathers lives, and a Circular poppy broach for Remembrance.

When making my own they are " magnets" not "pins" a penny washer is glued on the back and a " super strong penny magnet" is used the other side of the cloth.
the only time that has failed, the magnet decided an anchor chain was of more interest!!!
I'm still trying to make one for my railway interests, but haven't produced a design that does not look too toy like yet!!

[Steve Ashton]

I've actually had many military kilt come into my shop with rips in the inner and outer apron where the two were pinned together.
You would think that the pin would give first. But the evidence is pretty clear when you see it.

I tried the magnet thing on a pin I made. I had it yanked right off the kilt when the pin decided it liked the bumper of a car more than my kilt when I walked through a parking lot. No more magnets for me.

I also don't wear pins while in the shop. It seems that the knee lift on my industrial machines hit my right kilt right where the pin is and does unspeakable things to them and their clasps.

[The Q]

I've actually had many military kilt come into my shop with rips in the inner and outer apron where the two were pinned together.
You would think that the pin would give first. But the evidence is pretty clear when you see it

I therefore must assume the friction of the kilt, round the leg, exceeds the pulls needed to rip the kilt.

[OC Richard]

About the tradition or history of it, wearing kilt pins seems to be a modern thing, more or less.

In The Highlanders Of Scotland (portraits of 56 kilted men painted in the 1860s) of the 34 men which have the portion of the kilt in question visible, the following can be seen:

28 no kilt pin (one kilt has rosettes)
6 kilt pin

None of the kilt pins are the style which became popular in the early 20th century, a blanket pin or a sword shape.

The six kilt pins are as follows:

2 open circles
1 open oval
1 in the style of a clan crest cap badge
1 clan crest by itself, not surrounded by strap & buckle
1 complex design

So, at least in the 1860s the wearing of kilt pins was uncommon, and if so they were usually circular.

About the military, The 92nd Foot/Gordon Highlanders were the unique in wearing them, of the five post-1809 kilted regiments. They wore plain blanket pins.

I should also point out that flashes, which are now standard, are in the minority in The Highlanders Of Scotland; 40 of the 56 men wear none.

So when people talk about "elaborate Victorian Highland Dress" they might want to look at some of the men in HOS who have no kilt pins, flashes, cap badges, weaponry, or indeed any metal whatsoever in their costume (the sporran having a plain leather cantle).

I very rarely wear a kilt pin. Anyone who has seen piles of old band kilts (some worn for 20 years or more) will see the contrast between the bands that don't wear kilt pins (their kilts are in pretty good shape) and the bands that do wear kilt pins (nearly every kilt has at least some damage, and the worst kilts have big ragged holes you can put a finger through). I suspect drummers are the worst culprits (they will always get the blame anyhow).

[RectaPete]

Almost any good pin can be a kilt pin. Could be a standard nappy pin, a brooch or even an enamel badge. Creativity is a plus though- claymore pins do grate on you after being in the kilt community for so long!