List of tartans

This is a list of tartans from around the world. The examples shown below are generally emblematic of a particular association. However, for each clan or family, there are often numerous other official or unofficial variations. There are also innumerable tartan designs that are not affiliated with any group, but were simply created for aesthetic reasons.

British noble and regimental tartans[]

Tartans in this section are those of the current or former British royal family, of individual British nobility members, and of British military regiments that use traditional Scottish attire, mostly Highland regiments.

Image	Association	Origin	Country	Notes
	House of Stuart/Stewart	Highlands Clans, Scottish royalty	Scotland	The Royal Stuart (or Royal Stewart) tartan, first published in 1831, is the best-known tartan of the royal House of Stuart/Stewart, and is one of the most recognizable tartans. Today, it is worn by the regimental pipers of the Black Watch, Scots Guards, and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, among other official and organisational uses. It is commonly worn by the general public as general British symbol, though in theory it is the individual property of Elizabeth II.
	House of Stuart/Stewart	Highland clans, Scottish royalty	Scotland	Another "royal" tartan of the House of Stuart/Stewart. It was referred to by George V as "my personal tartan",[This quote needs a citation] though it appears in the Vestiarium Scoticum at least 23 years before his birth. While the work's historical claims have been shown to be spurious, it described the design as the "clanne Stewart tartan", and the work was popular, so the tartan would have been familiar before George's birth in 1865. It is worn officially today by the regimental pipers of the Scots Guards, and remain in common civilian use as a Stewart/Stuart clan tartan. For additional Stuart/Stewart tartans, see the Clan Stuart entry below.
	Duke of Rothesay	Highland clans; Scottish royalty	Scotland	The individual tartan of the Duke of Rothesay, a dynastic title of the heir-apparent to the British (and formerly separate Scottish) throne; currently Prince Charles.
	Black Watch	British military; roots among the Highland clans	Scotland	This is officially used by: the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 Scots); Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment); and the former 42nd Regiment of Foot. The tartan is also among the most common in civilian use, especially popular for evening-wear, owing to its muted tones.
	William Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Hamilton	Lowlands, Scottish nobility	Scotland

UK military or Government tartans[]

A number of tartans, worn by UK military units, are known as Government tartans, and are defined in a Standard^[1] currently maintained by Defence Equipment and Support within the Ministry of Defence. They are known by a number, a name, or both. The commonest are Government 1, Black Watch; Government 1A, a slightly lighter form of Black Watch worn by the Royal Regiment of Scotland; and Royal Stewart.

The following list includes those Government tartans worn by UK military units as from the creation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006 onwards. Other units wear a named clan tartan without it being defined by this standard, e.g. 32nd (Scottish) Signal Regiment and the pipers of the Royal Corps of Signals wear Grant, and the tartan of 154 (Scottish) Regiment Royal Logistics Corps is MacDuff. For the Royal Regiment of Scotland, the pipes and drums in each battalion wear the uniform of their antecedent regiment (as listed below) for ceremonial purposes, but the Regiment's standard Government 1A for non-ceremonial purposes.^[2]

Image	Number	Name	Current units worn by
	1	Black Watch	3 SCOTS drummers (inherited from The Black Watch)
	1A	Sutherland	Royal Regiment of Scotland, including Band and 7 SCOTS drummers (inherited from Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders)
[citation needed]	4	Cameron of Erracht	4 SCOTS pipers and drummers (inherited from The Highlanders pipers and drummers)
	5A	MacKenzie	2 SCOTS Drum Major (inherited from Royal Highland Fusiliers and Highland Light Infantry)
	6	Douglas	Royal Gurkha Rifles pipers
	7	Leslie	Former 1 SCOTS drummers (inherited from King's Own Scottish Borderers)
	8	Hunting Stewart	1 SCOTS Drum major (inherited from The Royal Scots)
[3]	11	Red Erskine	2 SCOTS pipers and drummers
		Royal Stewart	Former 1 SCOTS pipers 3 SCOTS pipers 7 SCOTS pipers Scots Guards pipers Royal Scots Dragoon Guards pipers
[4]		Hunting Rose	Royal Tank Regiment pipes and drums, and officers in black tie

Note: 1 SCOTS Pipers and Drummers were disbanded in 2021.

Scottish clan tartans[]

The tartans in this list are those ascribed to particular clans of Scotland, including Highland, Lowland, Isles, and Borders clans. Their status varies widely; armigerous clans generally accept them, while some have been officially adopted or rejected by a clan chiefs.

Image	Association	Origin	Country	Notes
	Armstrong	Borders clans	Scotland
	Barclay	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Brodie	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Bruce	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Buchanan	Highland clans	Scotland
	Cameron	Highland clans	Scotland
	Campbell	Highland clans	Scotland	This is the so called "Old Campbell" which is a lightened form of the Black Watch regimental tartan, adopted by Clan Campbell .
	Chisholm	Highland clans	Scotland
	Colquhoun	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Comyn	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Cranstoun / Cranston	Borders clans	Scotland
	Crawford	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Cunningham	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Davidson	Highland Clans	Scotland	Most popular tartan of the Clan Davidson.
	Douglas	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Drummond	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Dunbar	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Dundas	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Erskine	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Farquharson	Highland clans	Scotland	Based on the Black Watch tartan.
	Forbes	Highland clans	Scotland
	Fraser	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Gordon	Borders clans	Scotland
	Graham	Borders clans	Scotland
	Grant	Highland clans[5]	Scotland
	Gunn	Highland clans	Scotland
	Hamilton	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Hay	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Home	Borders clans	Scotland
	Johnstone / Johnston / MacIan	Borders clans	Scotland	Sometimes also rendered Johnson, though this surnames often has non-Scottish origins.
	Kerr	Borders clans	Scotland
	Lamont	Highland clans	Scotland
		Lowland clans	Scotland
	Leslie	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Lindsay	Lowland clans	Scotland
	MacArthur	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacDonald	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacDonald of Clanranald	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacDougall	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacDuff	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacGregor	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacFarlane	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacIntyre	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacKay	Highland clans	Scotland
	Mackenzie	Highland clans	Scotland
	Mackinnon	Highland clans	Scotland
	Mackintosh	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacLachlan	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacLaren	Highland clans	Scotland	[6]
	MacLean	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacLeod	Highland clans	Scotland
	Macnab	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacNeil	Highland clans	Scotland	, but not recognized by the current chief as a clan tartan.
	Macneil of Barra	Highland clans	Scotland	One of two official tartans of the Clan Macneil.
	Macneil of Colonsay	Highland clans	Scotland	One of two official tartans of the Clan Macneil.
	MacNicol / Nicolson / MacNeacail	Isle of Skye	Scotland	Called MacNicol or Nicolson tartan
	Macpherson	Highland clans	Scotland
	MacQuarrie	Highlands	Scotland
	Macqueen	Highland clans	Scotland
	Macqueen		Scotland	Image shows both Macqueen tartan setts. The black-red-yellow is better known while the blue-red-yellow is considered to be an "artifact variant".
	MacTavish / Thompson	Highlands	Scotland
	Maxwell	Borders clans	Scotland
	Menzies	Highland clans	Scotland
	Montgomery	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Munro	Highland clans	Scotland
	Muir	Highlands	Scotland	California State tartan, seen below, is based upon this pattern.
	Murray	Highlands	Scotland
	Ogilvy / Ogilvie	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Oliphant	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Ramsay	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Robertson	Highland clans	Scotland
	Rose	Highland clans	Scotland
	Ruthven	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Scott	Borders clans	Scotland
	Seton	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Sinclair	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Stewart/Stuart	Highland clans	Scotland	For additional Stewart/Stuart tartans, see Royal Stuart, above.
	Sutherland	Highland clans	Scotland
	Urquhart	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Wallace	Lowland clans	Scotland	This pattern dates back to 1842. It is also known as "Wallace Dress" or "Wallace Red", and is used on the 3M brand Scotch tape.
	Wemyss	Lowland clans	Scotland
	Wood	Lowland clans	Scotland	Incorporates the colors of the Duke of Fife and Angus district tartans – areas with which the Woods are historically connected.[7]

Scottish non-clan family tartans[]

Tartans in this list are ascribed to specific families or surnames, though not to Scottish clans; they range in date from 21st century to considerably older.

Image	Association	Origin	Country	Notes
	McCandlish	Loch Lomond area, Wigtownshire, and Ayrshire	Scotland	Registered with STA in 1992 (no. 3324) and STR in 2009 (no. 5216). Also exists in green, grey, and arisaid (white-field) variants.[8]
	McPhee	Colonsay	Scotland
	Oliver	Borders area	Scotland
	Park		Scotland

Non-Scottish family tartans[]

These are (mostly modern) tartans created for families without a direct connection to Scotland.

Cornish[]

See Cornish kilts and tartans § Family tartans.

Organisational tartans[]

Tartans in this list are modern ones pertaining to particular commercial, non-profit, and military organisations. (For the Highland regiments, see above.)

Image	Association	Origin	Country	Notes
	Burberry Check	Company design	England	Created in the 1920s, this pattern is known as the "Burberry check". It was originally used as a lining in the company's trench coats.
	US Air Force Reserve Pipe Band		United States	Adopted by the band in the early 1990s. Although it has no official US Military recognition, it has been widely accepted by US servicemen with Air Force connections. Originally created in 1988 as Lady Jane of St Cirus. A variation of this is named US Forces Thurso.
	DunBroch/Merida	Disney	United States	Created for the 2012 film Brave

Regional tartans[]

Tartans in these lists were created (mostly in modern times) for particular national and sub-national jurisdictions, most often officially, though with some exceptions.

Canada[]

See Regional tartans of Canada.

Cornwall[]

See Cornish kilts and tartans § National tartans.

United States[]

See List of U.S. state tartans.

See also[]

• Border tartan
• Scottish Register of Tartans
• Scottish Tartans Authority
• Vestiarium Scoticum § Tartans – tables of tartans listed in this antique but questionably accurate manuscript, with the addition of thread counts and Scottish Tartans Society designations

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tartans.

• Scottish Register of Tartans
• Scottish Tartans Authority - The only organisation dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tartan
• Scottish Tartans World Register
• Scottish Kilts Collection