Wear of Clan Tartan by non-Clan Members

[Tobus]

I think the Harley example is a bit off... as a teen, I wore many harley shirts and never owned one. I simply liked the bikes and supported "team harley" over "team honda".

Your reasons for wearing it may have been that, but can you be certain that everyone else understood it that way? That's my point. Whether you mean to or not, your clothing choice will cause people to make assumptions about you that you may not have meant. And if you were just a kid at the time, I doubt anyone thought of you as a motorcycle owner. But I see it all the time in the adult world. If I wear a Harley shirt, people will ask me what kind of Harley I have. (I used to own two of them!) It's just the natural assumption that people make when they see you advertise a symbol on your clothing. They assume you're part of a group. It would be the same if I wore my late grandfather's Jaguar jacket. He always drove a Jaguar, and loved them. But if I wore the jacket, people might assume I drive a Jag, and it would just be really weird. I don't want to misrepresent myself that way.

The Harley example may not be perfect, nor the Masonic example. But you get my point, I hope. Symbols on clothing are used as identifiers, and to identify yourself as a part of a group when you aren't a part of a group (whether it's one that's earned, or chosen, or hereditary doesn't really matter) will cause confusion at the very least, and possibly anger at the worst. A sports team logo is a bit different, as no one will assume you're on the team. But they will assume you're a fan if you're wearing that logo. Why else would you wear it, unless you are identifying yourself as a fan of the team? See, right there, you've told others that you're part of a group. If you wear a Baltimore Orioles shirt, but when approached by fans you tell them you're not a fan and you just like the picture of the birdie on the logo, they'll think you're weird. Know what I mean? They'll also think you're a bit strange if you tell them that you're not a fan, but you wear it to honour your great-grandfather's cousin who was an Orioles fan.

It's not the exact same thing with clan tartans, but it's very similar. Wearing a specific clan's tartan just because you like the colours is your choice, but others may think it's odd because it's a symbol that actually means something to them. That's all I'm saying.

In the end, what they think doesn't really matter.