An excellent and authoritative book has been written on Campbell tartans and every Campbell family should have one in their reference library. The Campbell tartan authorized by the Chief as appropriate for all of Clan Campbell is known in the clan as Campbell tartan and in the trade by various names; "ancient Campbell", "Black Watch", "ancient Black Watch". The colors are ONLY green, black and blue. The shades or tones of the colors may vary from different weavers but the choice of these is a matter for your taste.

Almost all published books on Scottish clans and Tartans, with the exception of the second edition of that by the late Sir Ian Moncreiffe, have errors in their illustrations for Clan Campbell. The confusion results from asking the weavers instead of the Chiefs about which is their clan's tartan.

There are other specific tartans authorized for descendants of the Loudoun, Breadalbane and Cawdor branches of Clan Campbell. The trade has not created the same deliberate or thoughtless confusion about these, although they may be hard to find.

"Argyle", with white and yellow lines, and "Dress", with areas of white, are NOT AUTHORIZED tartans, although the Argyle is heavily promoted by the trade. Those who already posess non-authorized tartans should not hesitate to wear them. However if innocently stuck with those, you may like to wear a tie, plaid or scarf of authorized tartan so as to show your loyalty to the authority of Clan Campbell and in order to be able to show others the right tartan to buy. That is for you to choose.

Please visit Clan Campbell Tartans for detailed information on the correct tartans. Also, a number of members of the Clan Campbell Society (North America) Executive Council are very knowledgeable in tartans history and welcome the opportunity to assist new Clan Campbell kilt and tartan buyers in making the correct choices.


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Here is how our late chief, The 12th Duke of Argyll, and re-affirmed by our current Chief, The 13th Duke of Argyll, MacCailein Mor, summed up the official position on Campbell tartans consistently declared for nearly two centuries by successive Chiefs of Clan Campbell:


"...the only tartans which I recognize are, firstly, the one you see me and my wife wearing, which goes under various names, such as ordinary Campbell, Ancient Campbell, etc., and all members of our clan who are not specifically identified with [the Houses of Breadalbane, Cawdor [or] Loudoun are entitled to wear it.

Let me get rid, once and for all, of the thought that there is a 'Campbell of Argyll' [tartan]. While it is true that the Sixth Duke [of Argyll - b.1768 - s.1806 - d.1839] introduced a white line to his plain Campbell tartan to differentiate himself from the rest of the Campbells, (he being the chief and entitled to do so), he was the only member of the family so to do and the rest of the family thought he was rather pompous to do it.

Campbell of Breadalbane--fine [to wear].

Campbell of Cawdor--fine.

Campbell of Loudoun--fine.

Campbell of Glenlyon--I have never heard of it.

Campbell of Loch Awe-this is plain ridiculous, as we are all Campbells of Loch Awe originally. - Apart from anything else, I have never heard of a Campbell of Loch Awe tartan, nor do I wish to do so.

THERE IS NO DRESS CAMPBELL [TARTAN]--repeat! repeat! repeat!

There is NO HUNTING CAMPBELL.

There is NO CAMPRELL RED.

There is NO CAMPBELL - SIMPSON.

There are no Campbell cheques, other than commercial ones...

If I feel strongly about anything and would like it inscribed on my tombstone, there might be a few lines such as 'All Campbells with the exception of the three principal septs [the Houses of Breadalbane, Cawdor and Loudoun] should wear plain undifferentiated Campbell for evermore and not get confused by peddlers of this [other] material that comes under all sorts of guises.

Yours ever,
Your Kinsman and Chief,
Argyll"


[From a letter to the late William A. Mitchell, Clan Campbell Society, U.S.A. genealogist.]

To summarize, then, there are just four authentic Campbell tartans: Ancient or "plain" Campbell, Campbell of Breadalbane, Campbell of Cawdor, and Campbell of Loudoun. To be faithful to Scottish tradition, only those descended from the Houses of Breadalbane, Cawdor and Loudoun should wear the tartans belonging to those houses; all other Campbells and members of other Campbell septs should wear Ancient or "plain" Campbell tartan, which is composed of threads of only three colors: blue, green and black--with no overstripes of any other color.

Ancient Campbell is the same as Black Watch tartan--hardly surprising, since that illustrious regiment is a Campbell regiment, raised by the Duke of Argyll in 1739. (Indeed, as Alastair Campbell of Airds, Chief Executive of Clan Campbell, has indicated in his authoritative book Campbell Tartan, the Black Watch tartan may well have been adopted as the clan's tartan because so many members of the clan were already wearing it, owing to their service in the regiment.)

The Black Watch tartan is today usually made in darker shades of green and blue, while Ancient Campbell is made in lighter, brighter shades. Some Campbells wear the lighter Ancient Campbell for day wear and the darker Black Watch for evening and formal wear--the important point being that they are the same tartan. Remember, it is the "sett", or thread count of a tartan that distinguishes it from other tartans, not the comparative lightness or darkness of their colors, which in early days could vary greatly due to the unpredictable nature of vegetable dyes. So, caveat emptor: before you buy anything purporting to be Ancient Campbell or Black Watch tartan, be sure it has the correct sett, with first one pair of black "railroad tracks" on the blue, and then two pair, then one pair, and so on.

For further authoritative information on Campbell tartans, including color illustrations of the four authentic tartans, consult Campbell Tartan, by Alastair Campbell of Airds, available from a number of specialty booksellers handling books on Scottish subjects, such as Unicorn Limited, Inc., (Scotpress.com) P.O. Box 125, Loachapoka, AL 36865.