Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
I don't know if I should be pitching in here as I think it is aimed across the water, but why not?
Regimental, club etc. ties all denote membership of a fairly exclusive group, i.e. you either joined and served in them or simply joined and paid the annual fee. As a result, they are quite entitled to claim exclusivity for their particular pattern of tie and anyone infringing that exclusivity would be regarded as anything from simply impolite to downright fraudulent (yes - it has happened, people worming their way into jobs etc. wearing a regimental/university tie to which they are not entitled). I think we can all agree on this whereas claiming a similar exclusivity for tartans is a different matter altogether.

Phil,

I stand accused and unapologetic. I have a number of British regimental ties that I wear. I wear them because I admire a particular regiment though I have no official connection to them. I wear them to work but I never wear them when I'm in the UK - for obvious reasons. I'd say 99.9% of the Americans I meet don't even know they are regimental ties.

Twice when wearing the RM tie in Washington, DC I've met up with an RM. I explained that I was an American Marine and had served with RMs (and even almost enlisted in the RM when much younger) but that I'd never been an RM. I wore it because I greatly admired and respected the RM - but I did stress that I would never wear it in the UK and I had no reason to pose as an RM because I was an American Marine. Neither RM had any problem and actually expressed their appreciation that I thought so highly of their Corps.