crest badge as a kilt pin?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I have assumed arms and am considering having a crest badge made for myself – that being my crest, within a plain circlet bearing my slogan, with a single silver eagle feather behind it (as befits an armiger).

The mere taking up of a coat of arms, be it by confirmation, grant de novo, or mere assumption, does not automatically confer upon an individual the right to display any feathers in connection with his crest. Lord Lyon Sellars has made it perfectly clear that the clan chiefs determine who is entitled to feathers, not his office. On its website the Lyon Court has merely explained the niceties of how feathers may be heraldically displayed according to the custom of that office.

Feathers, in the first instance, are not indicative of armigerous status, but rather indicate the size of one's following. In the historical sense a following can be described as the number of armed men an individual could call up if required to do so by the chief. Those members of a clan with large followings, the chieftains and barons, indicate that status by wearing two feathers; the duine-uasail, those clan members with smaller followings, would indicate their status with one feather. The size of the followings would vary, but in the instance of a chieftain it would normally indicate a following comprised of those men of military age (usually 16) from ten distinct families to whom he was related as "head", plus their servants and tenants; a duine-uasail, a smaller land holder, would have a following of five distinct families-- again to whom he was related as "head"-- and like a chieftain or baron would be able to call out all able bodied men 16 and over when summoned to do so by his chief or chieftain. In other words, feathers were used to indicate the heads of the derbhfine and gilfine branches of the clan, who were expected to provide the clan levy in the event of battle, this custom pre-dating Lyon's applying their use to armigers.

While it is true that the jurisdiction of the Lord Lyon is limited to Scotland, the jurisdiction of a clan chief is universal; therefore, without the recognition of the Lyon as to one's status as an armiger, it would be necessary to apply to one's chief for permission to wear a single feather as a leader of his clan. Usurping the authority of a clan chief (or worse, flouting it) would only mark one out as a complete poser, or worse-- a fraud.

My question is: Since I do not usually wear a cap of any sort, would it be appropriate for me to use my personal crest badge as a kilt pin? I don’t want to fall into a highlands fashion faux pas.

It is the custom of many chiefs to wear their three feather crest badges on the left lapel of their jacket when not wearing their bonnet. While some armigers in North America also do this, it really smacks of showing off and I would advise against it. As far as wearing your crest as a kilt pin is concerned, as long as it is just the crest there is no problem. I personally think the circlet might be a bit of overkill, and a circlet with feathers would be, as you put it, a Highland faux pas.

[OC Richard]

About pins which look more or less like Clan Crest cap badges worn as kilt pins, it's interesting to note that none of the kilt pins which appear in The Highlanders of Scotland are anything like our 20th century tall slender vertically oriented kilt pins.

Rather, the pins which appear there are circular, oval, etc.

Only 6 of the 56 kilted men have visible kilt pins:
2 plain open circles
1 plain open oval
1 clan crest style circular badge
1 crest but lacking the surrounding circle
1 complex design

So wearing a Clan Crest circular pin as a kilt pin would have been quite in style then. Today it's slightly unusual.

One of the world's top pipe bands wear large cap badges both on their caps and as kilt pins.