For completeness, there are another few points that should be mentioned.

'Flopping' the shield was very popular on Continental Europe to depict a marriage or alliance of some sort. One of the shields (usually the one on the left) would be turned to 'respect' the other. Rather like a picture of a loving couple looking deeply into each other's eyes. BUT. This idea never found favour with Heralds in either England or Scotland. Their opinion was then, and still is, that the 'turned' shield was totally different to the original and could in some instances be identical to someone else's shield.

In this case, if the shield was flopped then it would no longer be the shield of Donald. It might be somebody else's or it might be nobody's, I really don't know, but the possibility is there.

So, if it is not the shield of Donald, would your friend want the shield of some total stranger tattooed on his arm?

Next point. This is a list of the Armigerous clans, that is to say, clans with no Chief or no known Chief. Where the Chiefly line has died out.

Abercromby · Abernethy · Adair · Adam · Aikenhead · Ainslie · Aiton · Allardice · Anderson · Armstrong · Arnott · Auchinleck · Baillie · Baird · Balfour · Bannatyne · Baxter · Bell · Belshes · Bethune · Beveridge · Binning · Bissett · Blackadder · Blackstock · Blair · Blane · Blyth · Boswell · Brisbane · Buchanan · Butter · Byres · Cairns · Calder · Caldwell · Callender · Campbell of Breadalbane · Campbell of Cawdor · Carruthers · Cheyne · Chalmers · Clelland · Clephane · Cockburn · Congilton · Craig · Crawford · Crosbie · Cunningham · Dalmahoy · Dalrymple · Dalzell · Dennistoun · Don · Douglas · Duncan · Dunlop · Edmonstone · Fairlie · Falconer · Fenton · Fleming · Fletcher · Forrester · Fotheringham · Fullarton · Galbraith · Galloway · Garden · Gartshore · Ged · Gibsone · Gladstains · Glas · Glen · Glendinning · Gray · Gunn · Haliburton · Halkerston · Halket · Hepburn · Heron · Herries · Hogg · Hopkirk · Horsburgh · Houston · Hutton · Inglis · Innes · Kelly · Kinloch · Kinnaird · Kinnear · Kinninmont · Kirkcaldy · Kirkpatrick · Laing · Lammie · Langlands · Learmonth · Little · Logan · Logie · Lundin · Lyle · MacAulay · Macbrayne · MacDuff · MacEwen · MacFarlane · Macfie · Macgillivray · MacInnes · MacIver · Mackie · MacLellan · Macquarrie · Macqueen · Macrae · Masterton · Maule · Maxton · Maxwell · McCorquodale · McCulloch · McGhee · McKerrell · Meldrum · Melville · Mercer · Middleton · Moncur · Monteith · Monypenny · Mouat · Moubray · Mow · Muir · Murray of Atholl · Nairn · Nevoy · Newlands · Newton · Norvel · Ochterlony · Orrock · Paisley · Paterson · Pennycook · Pentland · Peter · Pitblado · Pitcairn · Pollock · Polwarth · Porterfield · Preston · Pringle · Purves · Rait · Ralston · Renton · Roberton · Rossie · Russel · Rutherford · Schaw · Seton · Skirving · Somerville · Spalding · Spottiswood · Stewart · Stewart of Appin · Strachan · Straiton · Strange · Sydserf · Symmers · Tailyour · Tait · Tennant · Troup · Turnbull · Tweedie · Udny · Vans · Walkinshaw · Wardlaw · Watson · Wauchope · Weir · Whitefoord · Whitelaw · Wishart · Wood · Young

For many of these, there is an identifiable coat of arms, just no man to own them. Should someone wish to display any of these arms, there would not be anyone to complain.

In one or two cases, the procedure has started to obtain a new Chief. The case closest to home is Clan Duncan. Our own Duncan of Sketraw is is going through the procedure to become the Chief of the Clan. The thing is, when this happens, he will use his own coat of arms, not the one from 700 years ago. So the original 700 year old arms will go unused.

Last point. As Todd has pointed out, if a man wants to show his allegiance by getting a tattoo then the absolutely correct thing for him to do would be to use the Clansman's Badge in one colour. Then no one could take him to task.

Regards

Chas