Quote Originally Posted by The Scotsman View Post
If one chooses a tartan based on no other criteria than "because I like the way it looks" - that is a personal whim.

Those who wear a clan tartan because it is an identifying symbol of the clan that they belong to and are a member of are not choosing the tartan based on personal whim, but out of longstanding tradition that is a part of their heritage.

Clan tartan (unlike denim) is not a generic fabric, it is a very specific tribal symbol of identity and kinship, having been designed and produced for that purpose - to distinguish the members of the clan to which the sett pertains.
I don't have any problem with anything you have stated here. It is all very true, tartan is a very special fabric, rich with traditions and customs that in many cases go back generations.

However, that does not all add up to mean that any such thing as an "entitlement" or a "right" to a tartan exists.

My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Armstrong. Therefore I wear the Armstrong tartan in honor of my blood connections with that family.

There are those who would not consider wearing the Armstrong tartan unless they were decended from that clan on the male line. Fine.

There are those who would not consider wearing the Armstrong tartan unless they actually bore the surname "Armstrong." Fine.

Each of the above hypothetical gentlemen are entitled to their opinion, and I respect that. But we are talking about my kilt, here, and my choice of what tartan to wear in my kilt, and if I want to wear a tartan to honor my grandmother and her family, so be it!

And, truth be told, if I wanted to wear the Armstrong tartan, and yet had absolutely no ties to that clan, I would be free to do so. Who is going to stop me?

Which brings me to the point which I have been attempting to make all along. There is no such thing as a "right" or an "entitlement" to wear a tartan. Except in those .01% of cases that I have mentioned, no one is going to ask for any kind of proof whatsoever that you have a justified reason for wearing your tartan. Your reason is up to you.

Most people will feel compelled to select a tartan to which they feel some tie, which they feel represents them or their ancestry in some fashion. This is the tradition that has developed -- of wearing tartan in a symbolic fashion.

But to suggest that one must have an entitlement to wear a tartan implies that one cannot wear any tartan to which one is not entitled, and this leads to much unnecessary worry and hand wringing; and really it is a concept rather foreign to tartan tradition.