Show Us Your Kilt Pins.

[English Bloke]

Hellooo. Smee again.

I noticed on Jeff's (Forrester Modern's) recent thread re: his new Douglas Brown Kilt, that he had a rather dazzling, Fleur de lis Kilt pin and not the usual 4" pewter sword. It got me to thinking how my own taste in kilt pin aquisition has developed since I began to follow the sage advice from a number of X Markers of "one pin for each kilt" to reduce the chance of pin swap damage.

I've managed to accrue quite a number of pins now and my fascination at picking up different and interesting ones is almost as intence as my interest in Kilts.

The purpose of this thread is not to shout "Look at me, look at all my pins" or even "look at me look at all my kilts" but to encourage newer members who may be looking for pins to venture towards ones that may be a little different from the usual.

I'm trying to post the pictures in a series of posts and in chronological order but they might not be exactly in the order I aquired them. All pins were bought over the internet, either on auction sites using various search strings or from online Highland retailers.

Pin 01

The first kilt pin I aquired. It's a 4" Sword and rampant lion, made of pewter with a pin and roll clasp fastening. Pretty standard stuff and not expensive if you shop around. It sits on my Black Watch PV which I now keep as a lender Kilt.

Pin 02

This is a 3.5" solid silver (925) pin with a pin and roll clasp. I've seen the same design for sale for fairly hefty money, probably because it's silver. I picked this one up on ebay for a handful of peanuts. Right place right time I guess. It now sits on my MacLeod Ancient PV.

Pin 03

A 4" pewter, Sword and clan (Bruce) badge pin with a roll clasp and pin fastening. Average price for these is £10-£15 and come in various different styles on the same theme (badge on a sword) so best you shop around. It now sits on my 16oz Bruce Modern.

Pin 04

I bought this on Ebay ages ago and have have posted pics of it here before. It's a brass pin so it's quite heavy. It's 4" long and fastens with a pin and roll clasp. It lived on my Black PV Kilt for a while then was demoted and went for a long while without a Kilt to sit on because I felt it never really looked right on any of the other tartans I had. Until now. I do think it looks fantastic against my 13oz Oliver Hunting Ancient which is where it now is. It seems that sometimes you buy a pin for a kilt and other times you buy a kilt for a pin... or summink!

Pin 05

A 4" chrome finish, pewter pin depicting a celtic swirl. It can be found through various UK based, highland suppliers, either directly or via their ebay outlets. It's quite reasonably priced but does vary depending on who's selling it. It has a pin fastening and used to reside on my 13oz Grant Hunting (Black Watch) but is currently Kiltless. Not because I don't like it, I love it in fact, it's just that it's in rotation.

[English Bloke]

Pin 06

A 4" antique finish, pewter pin depicting celtic serpents (which is appropriate to my job as a healthcare professional I suppose). I picked this up at the same time as Pin 05 because I couldn't decide between the two so I bought them both (£14 the pair with a four day wait for the auction to finish). It too has a pin fastening and sits on my 13oz Johnstone Modern.

Pin(s) 07

These pins are on my wife's 16oz "The Australian" Modern. It is a man's Kilt although it looks great on her and I've posted about it's origins before so I'll not bore you (if you're really interested click here. It's a long winded read as usual). In summary, there are two pins here, both replicas. A 3rd incarnation, burnished copper "Rising Sun" hat badge (1904 to 1949) and a copper finish, Australia shoulder title beneath and both fasten with butterfly clutch pins. I bought them online from a medal and badge supplier based near Perth in Western Australia. They were expensive with postage but these badges have great, important significance to me (and also my wife for different reasons) which is why they are worn in this way.

Pin(s) 08

This is a set of Led Zeppelin Runes. If you have no idea what they are, you are either much older than me or considerably younger, in which case it doesn't matter. They are pewter and fasten with individual clutch pins. They are also pretty good at gripping on and do usually stay in alignment. They sit on my plain Black PV and knocked Pin 04 off this prestigious spot on arrival.

Pin 09

A 2" round, pewter Brooch depicting three, celtic stylised horses. Fastens with a pin and roll clasp and sits on my Brittany National Acrylic. It doesn't get much wear this one because this is not my favorite kilt (because of the material not the tartan sett) but it is a nice pin. Picked it up on ebay for next to nowt.

Pin 10

I picked this up on ebay as well. For 99p! It started as a pewter (silver finish) celtic sword. Because it was so cheap and therefore no loss if the plan went wrong (I was looking for just such a thing), I (carefully) painted it Black. I've seen these elsewhere in various finishes, including black for up to £22. I think that's too much to pay for a pewter pin. It now lives on my Grant Hunting 13oz and adds to the dark and mysterious nature of the Black Watch sett (Grant Hunting, Campbell Clan, Munro Hunting and Black Watch are one and the same according to Lochcarron).

[Riverkilt]

Army with War 2 victory wreath and ribbon and Army Air Corps wings on Army tartan


Old X Marks pin stacked with 10 gallon blood donor pin and mini Phoenix Fire Dept. badge on Firefighter's Memorial tartan.


Welsh dragon on Prince of Wales tartan.


USMC kilt pin on Leatherneck tartan.


Penguin kilt pin on Antarctic tartan


Custom made Hopi bear kilt pin on Isle of Skye tartan.


Custom Hopi thunderbird kilt pin on Prince of Wales tartan, now worn on my Royal Air Force tartan.

As Ham so wisely teaches - we need a kilt pin for every kilt to avoid poking and repoking holes in the fabric.

[English Bloke]

Pin 11

Another 2" round, pewter brooch depicting intertwined celtic birds. It's from ebay and it lives on my Black Stewart PV.

Pin 12

This is a 2" pewter brooch at the circular edge. It's actually a vertical/horizontal cross but I wear it on a cant because I think it looks better. Another good value ebay find that sits on my 13oz Randonnée Bretonne (Brittany walking) Kilt.

Pin 13

This is a bit of a gimmick pin that I spotted on the site of some online highland retailer (I forget which) but it's made by Gaelic Themes (who make the X Marks Clan Badge) and is not uncommon. It depicts three toothed cogs within a strap and buckle and bears the dog latin inscription "Illegitimus Non Carborundum" (if you don't know what this means and would like a long wided and rather dull description of the etymology of this phrase please click here) I was a bit ticked off when I bought it and it seemed appropriate at the time. It does make a conversation piece if anyone notices (not that they do) and it sits on my 15oz Lindsay Double Box Pleat.


Pin 14

A standard 2" pewter, Bruce clan badge which features (heraldically) A lion stantan Azure armed and langued Gules (not sure what that means actually, other than it's a blue lion, standing on a thingamebob and facing forward, looking left... or right, depending how you view it?... Heyelp!) within a strap and buckle and bears the Latin motto "Fuimus" which loosely translates as "We Have Been". This is the Bruce Clan motto, in case you hadn't guessed.
It sits on my 16oz Bruce Hunting and is a replacement for another identical one which worked it's way loose and dropped off... lost forever (sob!).

Pin 15

When I bought my 16oz MacDonald Dress Muted on ebay, it came with a MacDonald clan badge already attached. I am an odd mix of motives and though I can wear the tartan without any issues of conscience, I would find it hard to sport the badge. Not that there is anything wrong with MacDonalds, they are a fine bunch of chaps and chapess' all, it's just to the best of my knowledge I'm not one of them. (Why the Kilt then? I dunno, I just can. I guess I'm probably quite shallow.) Knowing that this would be the case, immediately after buying the kilt I trawled for a suitable pin using my favorite (and secret) search strings such as "celtic" and "brooch"... DOH!!
and turned up this. It's Pewter, 2.5" long with a pin and clasp fastening and was £3.70 delivered. Considerably cheaper than yer average pin and I think it's quite different.

[English Bloke]

Cheers Ron... Exactly what I'm after with this thread (wot I prepared earlier ) If you bought that welsh dragon on ebay a few months ago... I was the one bidding against you. hehehe ya winsome ya loossum.

[English Bloke]

Pin 16

My 16oz MacKenzie Ancient, another ebay scoop, came pinless and did host Pin 05 for a brief while but I recently scored this beauty on ebay. It had a start price of 99p (I was optimistic) then went up to £2.20 for a couple of days then went to £6.10 in the last minute. Fortunately my previously bid "The price I'm prepared to pay" was higher so I still topped the other bidders... If it was you by the way, will you stop doing that!! So for £7.50 delivered, a novel, good quality and intersting pin that's not your standard sword.

Some other Pins, currently without Kilts.

Pin 17

I saw this in an auction too and couldn't resist. It was another give away and is made of pewter with a black err... glass? stone set in the centre of the cross. It is a good 4" long but unfortunately doesn't get worn often as the fastening is a pin and hook and I'm terrified the unprotected sharp point will wind up in my leg or worserrer still, jag into my kilt and tear it.

Pin 18

This is another ebay give away at 99p. It's 3.5" and features celtic stylised birds. Again the reason it's not being worn is the pin and roll clasp fastening is very flimsy and would definately give if put under any stress. I'll look into replacing the clasp with a stronger one in due course. I've gone right off attaching pins with earth magnets by the way. Tried it with one, and my fridge absolutely loved it but it's a bit awkward being kilt checked by a domestic appliance so I was not so keen.

Pin 19

As some of you may be aware, one of the few things in life I take seriously is remembering. I am a frequent visitor to European battlefields and have been to others including Gallipoli, and as an Ex, I'm also a keen and paid up member of the Royal British Legion. I wear a poppy lapel pin in all my jackets, all the time but this beauty was shown to us all by X Marker acaig in October 09. I bought one from the Royal British Legion website immediately and wear it whenever I'm out remembering and kilted. I position it about an inch or so above whichever regular pin I'm wearing at the time. This one is an inch and a bit across and features a wreath of vivid red, enamelled poppies. A lovely little thing.

Protecting your pins.
As I mentioned above, I've already lost a clan crest badge which was in a "now you see it, now you don't" situation. It's not the lost value of the badge that narked me it's that it was MY badge from My collection (dagnabbit). I took steps to ensure it wouldn't happen again by adopting a lead I first heard of from Ron (Riverkilt) MacDonald, where all my kiltpins are now secured using a flat rubber band.


If the fastening actually snaps, it probably won't help much but if it just works loose, the band will stop the pin slipping through the fabric and likely save the day.


So those are my kiltpins to date, less some I have fallen out of love with and disposed of.

I know some people would only wear one kilt so have no need for more than one pin, I know that some people who wear more than one kilt are happy swapping one pin around, I know some don't like pins at all and never wear them, I know some only wear tradtional blanket pins attached upsidedown, I know that some people would never wear anything so tawdry as pewter and glass.

I make no comment or critisism on whatever you choose to do and I ask that folks don't use my propensity of kilts and shallow approach to tartans or my love of cheap, shiny things as a stick to beat me with.

The point of the thread is to share some interesting pins I have and offer everyone a central location in which to post pictures of interesting pins they may have.

I know there are many threads here where members have shared images of new pins they have aquired and I love looking at those but they really are difficult to track down after a month or so has passed.

To those who wish to contribute, there is no requirement to document your whole collection (I have, just to get this started) but if you have an interesting pin or get hold of a new and interesting pin, please post it here... I would however like to warn people who, as yet don't collect them! It can become as addictive as any other aspect of highland attire and your collection will soon exceed the number of kilts you own. On the plus side, it's cheaper than buying kilts.

[Downunder Kilt]

I have several kilt pins, as can be seen from below, I tend to wear the Australian Rising Sun cap badge most of the time in memory of my father and uncles. I have my fathers WWII badge and that of my uncles. Sometimes I wear two kilt pins, hence the slimmer ones which I wear at the bottom of the kilt and the broader ones mid thigh

[CMcG]

I've also picked up a few kilt pins on eBay. Originally, I was just being budget conscious (must cost less than $5) but I've come to appreciate the pre-loved uniqueness.

Silver plated maple leaf, which now resides on my MacQuarrie modern 13oz:


Brass shamrock penannular, seen on my New World Irish arcylic:


Thistle safety pin inherited from father's days as piper, shown here on my buddy's vintage Grant tank. My buddy now has a plain safety pin and this pin is safely back on my Douglas modern 16oz:

[English Bloke]

... I tend to wear the Australian Rising Sun cap badge most of the time in memory of my father and uncles. I have my fathers WWII badge and that of my uncles.

Hi Downunder.
If you want to protect your investment as it were, and ensure you don't loose precious family heirlooms, the links to the replica "Rising Sun" and Australia shoulder titles that I used are clickable here.

[T-Bone]

Here is one that is out of the ordinary. I made it by attaching a boar's tusk to a blanket pin. It is a little heavy, so I put a swatch of material beind the apron and pin it on.


T