Cap badges with Tams, or Balmorals without ribbons?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

To my practiced eye, all of the gentlemen in the photo originally posted by JSFMJR (Sandy to his pals on XMTS) are wearing Balmoral bonnets-- some with dicing, some without, and all with their tails either tied up, or (possibly) cut off. Most are wearing a badge of some sort on the left side. Now here's the thing: There is no requirement to wear a cap badge on your bonnet. Probably 99% of gentlemen do, and of that number probably 99% of them sport their clan badge. But it's not required, and either is the cockade. Since cockades rarely, at least these days, denote any special allegiance, their main purpose is to supply a secure backing for the pin on the clan badge.

Hope that answers your question.