Interesting ad I found in an old catalogue for tam-o-shanters with feathers

[Kriegbert]

[figheadair]

They appear to be ladies' fashion accessories based on the style of the male headdress.

[Pleater]

They are shown as being strangely small - which could be the fashion at the time, but might be a reason for the proclaimed cheapness.
Having always worn my caps at a rakish angle, the depiction of them in the horizontal looks rather odd too.

Anne the Pleater

[OC Richard]

Interesting that they were in vogue (however briefly) as a female fashion thing.

Here are Victorian men wearing bonnets with feathers

[Kriegbert]

Interesting that they were in vogue (however briefly) as a female fashion thing.

Here are Victorian men wearing bonnets with feathers

are all of these men non-clan chiefs?

[figheadair]

are all of these men non-clan chiefs?

I've no idea who they are but Nos 2 and 4 look like they might have been gentry.

[DunRovinStation]

#4 looks a little like Peter O'Toole

[KenB]

Very interesting.
However I seem to remember there are/were protocols re: the wearing of feathers on your bonnet. Could someone enlighten me?

[EagleJCS]

There used to be a pamphlet on the website of the Lyon Court (Lord Lyon is responsible for, among other things, armorial bearings or other heraldic symbols in Scotland). The website has gone through some revisions over the years, and I think this is one of the things that was dropped.

I found a copy of the pamphlet here:
http://www.scotarmigers.net/pdfs/info-leaflet-2.pdf

Basically, a clan chief is entitled to wear the crest of their coat of arms in a plain circlet with three eagle feathers.
A clan chieftain (head of a large cadet branch or someone designated as such by the clan chief) is allowed two eagle feathers.
An armiger (a member of the clan with their own coat of arms) may wear one eagle feather.

There's more to it in the description, but that's the basics.


If one wanted to wear a feather from a different bird (or maybe just part of the feather, as a peacock tailfeather would be really long), I suppose there's nothing stopping one from doing so. Just be prepared to explain the difference to people who can't tell one bird from another.

[Kriegbert]

There used to be a pamphlet on the website of the Lyon Court (Lord Lyon is responsible for, among other things, armorial bearings or other heraldic symbols in Scotland). The website has gone through some revisions over the years, and I think this is one of the things that was dropped.

I found a copy of the pamphlet here:
http://www.scotarmigers.net/pdfs/info-leaflet-2.pdf

Basically, a clan chief is entitled to wear the crest of their coat of arms in a plain circlet with three eagle feathers.
A clan chieftain (head of a large cadet branch or someone designated as such by the clan chief) is allowed two eagle feathers.
An armiger (a member of the clan with their own coat of arms) may wear one eagle feather.

There's more to it in the description, but that's the basics.


If one wanted to wear a feather from a different bird (or maybe just part of the feather, as a peacock tailfeather would be really long), I suppose there's nothing stopping one from doing so. Just be prepared to explain the difference to people who can't tell one bird from another.

eagle feathers, regardless of colour, are unmistakenly ginormous. All of the noneagle feather ivs seen have been nowhere even half the size of an eagle feather, whether it is intentional to avoid being mistaken for “stolen valor” I know not. But I do think anyone who associates feathers with clan chiefs specials tatus would even at a moment’s glance tell that a feather is not an eagle feather in these cases we speak of. As for the general public, eagle feather or not, a feather is probably just a macaroni!