"Rules" for wearing family tartan

[davidlpope]

These days clan membership is determined by the surname one bears (which is based on the old criteria of "pretence of blood")

"First of all, a word on the rules. The Lord Lyon is an excellent authority, and he points out that name alone is the index of clan membership.

Anyone who does not bear a clan surname should wear a district tartan, if a suitable one exists, or else the Jacobite or Caledonia tartan.

Margaret O. MacDougall, F.S.A. Scot., editing Robert Bain's The Clans and Tartans of Scotland, agreed: "It has frequently been claimed that Scots who do not bear a clan or sept surname may wear the tartan of their mother's clan or sept providing she possessed a clan surname. Although this practice is widespread it is incorrect. Clan membership rests upon name and it follows that if no clan or sept surname is borne, there can be no claim to the tartan of any clan....."

Quick! Someone please inform HRH the Duke of Rothesay (Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor...)

[Steve Barclay]

Quick! Someone please inform HRH the Duke of Rothesay (Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor...)

Surely you mean Charles Philip Arthur George Battenberg-Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Mein Herr? ;)

However, this looks better than Lederhosen!

[fluter]

Although Charles had a Scottish grannie, I don't think he goes in for clan tartans as a general rule. Most of his kilts reflect one of his titles such as "Duke of Rothesay," "Prince of Wales," or "Lord of the Isles;" or his military associations, ...

... or in fact the odd Stuart tartan, to which I believe our colleague may have been referring. That was a wee, small joke, which I hope you're enjoying with us.

If I have not been plain enough, I quibble with the confusion of "blood" with "surname." As your dad or your biology teacher may have mentioned, it takes two bloodlines to produce one of us zygotes. I am aware that the general rule is to wear the tartan your dad wears; but that may not always reflect Dad's surname.

My surname may be Norman or it may be Huguenot, or something else entirely---I'm still working on that one. Dad didn't wear a tartan, but for most of my tenure on this earthly plane, I've worn the one associated with Mum's maiden name. I trust that you may approve of the sentiment therein expressed.

[davidlpope]

... or in fact the odd Stuart tartan, to which I believe our colleague may have been referring. That was a wee, small joke, which I hope you're enjoying with us.

Exactly!

[davidlpope]

As for the Royal tartans worn by Prince Charles on occassion, these are sometimes called "Stewart" tartans because of the Stewarts having long been a Royal family; however the Crown considers them to simply be "Royal tartans."

In this photo, though, Prince Charles is wearing the "Old Stewart" clan tartan, not a "Royal Tartan".