A question to stump the tartan experts.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

You see, the idea of clan tartans as we understand it didn't come about until long after the clan system had vanished, and long after its successor, feudalism, had also vanished.

So if someone else can honor their MacDonald clan heritage by wearing a tartan that their MacDonald anscestors probably never wore, why can't someone else honor their gypsy heritage by wearing a tartan that their gypsy anscestors never wore?

The point behind the tartan is that it is symbolic. We wear a particular tartan because of what it symbolizes, not because we believe our actual anscestors wore the same patterned cloth.