Here is the deal. You are never going to see a list of all of the non-restircted tartans. And the reason is this -- there are just too many of them!

The Balmoral being the only exception I can think of off hand, any other tartan can be worn by anyone at all, any time you like. And the restriction on wearing the Balmoral tartan is really more of a matter of custom than of law. If I wanted to, I could call up my weaver, order a few yards of the Balmoral tartan for myself, make a kilt, and wear it all over the Highland Games. Many would think I was in bad taste (though most wouldn't know the difference), but the point is there is no legal restriction on someone weaving or wearing this tartan.

Now there are many tartans that do have restrictions on who can produce the cloth, and who can sell the cloth. But these restrictions do not apply to who can wear the cloth. The House of Edgar, for instance, designed all of the Irish County tartans, and they are restricted in the sense that only that woolen mill is producing the cloth, and if I want some, I have to buy it from them. I can't have another weaver produce it, because The House of Edgar has the rights to to all of those tartans. But anyone who wishes can wear them. No restrictions on that.

Same with some clan tartans. Just about all the clan tartans you can want are generally available from any tartan import store. There are a few clan tartans that you might have to buy direct from the clan societies, but this again is a restriction on who can produce and sell the tartan, not who can wear it. For a while, the Clan Young tartan was like this. It was a newly designed tartan for the clan, and one man had the rights to it. Anyone could wear it, but if you wanted it, you had to buy it from the clan society. A few years back, Lochcarron of Scotland was granted permission to also weave it (which is why it is much more commonly seen now). But you certainly don't need permission or approval from a clan society to wear a clan tartan.

Remember this. Tartans are representative. They represent clans, families, places, businesses, etc. When you wear a tartan, you are somehow identifying yourself with what that tartan represents. Most people are going to want to choose a tartan that in some way reflects their heritage. It could be a tartan that matches your last name. It could be the tartan of your sixth-great-grandmother. It could be the tartan of the place your anscestors were from, or it could be the tartan for the place you live now. Maybe its the clan tartan of a good friend, or the district tartan for a place you visited once and really enjoyed. The point is, your reasons for selecting a tartan are entirely personal.

In my experience no one ever gets upset if you are wearing their clan tartan, even if you are not a member of the clan. If anything, they are delighted that you thought their tartan attractive enough to want to wear it.

When it comes to "universal" or "open" tartans, these are generally fashion tartans that do not represent anything (with a few exceptions, such as the Black Watch, which not only represents the military regiment of that name, but is used as a tartan by the Clans Campbell, Munro, and Grant, as well as being considered a universal tartan). There are no more or less restrictions on wearing these than any other tartan, its just that if you are hesitant to wear a tartan that represents something you are not affiliated with, these would be great choices.

In my opinion, there are only a small number of tartans that I would not choose to wear unless I truly were connected in some way to them. These mostly include tartans that represent a specific occupation of high esteem that I do not want to give the impression I have: Leatherneck for the USMC, or the Clergy tartan, or the Polaris tartan, for instance. Again, though, there are no official restrictions on wearing any of these -- only the fact that many would consider it bad taste.

Aye,
Matt