"Rules" for wearing family tartan

[robthehiker]

It is a common problem in venues other than tartan. In heraldry, for instance, coats of arms are borne by individuals, not entire families as is sometimes misunderstood. The rightful heir to a coat of arms is the direct senior male in the line of descent. Say that grandfather was an armiger, having been granted arms. His eldest son would be the one to inherit them exactly as grandfather bore them, and then his eldest son after him. Other brothers would have to have arms matriculated that bore some difference, such as a distinguishing border or a mark of cadence; so no one, except the direct senior heir male line has a right or entitlement to bear the undifferenced ancestral arms. Yet, it is often the case that unscrupulous bucket shops will sell coats of arms printed out on certificates or painted on plaques to unsuspecting individuals based on nothing more than similarity of name. These individuals, not knowing any better, will often proudly display what they think to be "their" ancestral arms. They may have them engraved on a gold ring, wear them as a blazer badge, have them printed on their personal stationary or calling cards. For the most part there is nothing that anyone can do about it. In Scotland one would, if they hired a lawyer, have legal recourse by taking a case before Lyon Court, but for most of the rest of the world, there is nothing anyone can do to stop these unentitled individuals from bearing coats of arms that do not properly belong to them.

Now I am not suggesting that tartans should be legally protected so as to prevent unentitled individuals from wearing them. Tartans (unlike coats of arms) are usually intended to be worn by more than one individual at a time, most being intended for entire clans or names; yet the situation of entitlement vs. capability is almost identical. Anyone is capable of assuming a coat of arms, but not all those who assume a particular coat of arms are actually entitled to bear them.

I completely misunderstood coats of arms before I came to XMarks. Luckily I was always too cheap to buy one of those "family" versions!

The Scotsman, are you by any chance an armiger? (I hope it's not rude to ask?)