Once again, I want to begin by first saying that it's a bit silly to couch these discussions in terms of having the "right" to wear a particular tartan. There are all kinds of things that people can have a right to -- free speech, freedom of worship, and the like. Compared to that, tartans just seem trivial to speak of in terms of "rights."

The long and short of it is that in the vast majority of cases, there is absolutely no legal restriction placed on wearing any tartan design, so yes, anyone at all can wear it. However, if someone wanted to copyright a new design (which usually only restricts the production of the design, not the use thereof) or otherwise take legal actions to restrict its use, and that person tells you that you do not have the "right" to wear his tartan, then you don't.

Keep in mind that with all of the US military tartans, the only one that I know of that is actually officially sanctioned by the military is the Coast Guard tartan. All of the other ones are fashion tartans. That means that someone designed them with that particular branch of military in mind, with the intent of honoring and representing that military branch, but the tartans themselves have no official standing with the military whatsoever.

Since the US Army tartan (to use an example) is only the US Army tartan because the woolen mill in Scotland that designed it (Strathmore) decided to call it the US Army tartan, then I suppose a non-Army type has just as much "right" to wear it as anyone else.

HOWEVER, practically speaking, if you are wearing a tartan called US Army, you can expect that people will assume that you are in, or have been in, the Army. Either they will recognize the tartan, or if not, they will ask you what it is. Any kilt wearer will tell you they get asked that all the time. "Hey, nice kilt! What tartan is that?"

So, the question to ask yourself is, are you comfortable with people mistaking you for someone who has served? I'm not, and the reason for that is that people tend to treat those who have given military service with a degree of respect and honor -- I know this from people I know and work with that have served in the military. I have not ever served in the military, and to me it would not do to give the impression that I had.

For the same reason I wouldn't wear the Clergy tartan if I were not a member of the clergy.

Now I don't necessarily have the same qualms about wearing another clan tartan. After all, the history of the clans themselves is one of wearing lots of different tartans. The modern day clan tartans were mostly selected in a fairly arbitrary way, anyway. And frankly, it just doesn't bother me to think that someone might mistakenly assume I'm descended from Clan MacGregor or Clan Sutherland, that to assume that I'm a veteran, or a minister. I suppose that it's because the former have to do with supposed anscestral connections centuries in the past, whereas the latter have to do with personal commitments, achievements, and duties.

Aye,
Matt