The wearing of Tartan

[PEEDYC]

I was brought up as a kilt wearer as a child and wore different tartans none of which were related to our family name which I understand is of French origin but can find no trace of it over there. The vast majority of Scots do not wear a kilt in their lifetime and I must agree have little or no interest in it. I have heard the saying many times, "The only place to find a true Scotsman is anywhere outside Scotland" We as a race tend to become very patriotic when we leave our homeland :The Tartan Army included. These are rugby and football fans who tend to go kilted but mostly to away matches. My opinion is wear what you like but to be safe from critique wear a non clan tartan. I wear a Campbell of Argyle (I have Cambells in my line) which according to the current Chieftan it does not exist as a Campbell tartan. You will never please everyone so please yourself, that's what counts.

[Mike_Oettle]

Hi, Scott, and welcome to X Marks from the bottom end of Africa.
Your given name certainly reflects a fondness for Scotland (probably on your parents’ part), although like me you have a German surname.
Your use of the Glasgow coat of arms is a bit of a no-no, but I am sure you can find a profile picture that you can use instead of it.
The Glasgow tartan is a fine one. But you have a number of choices – you mention looking at American and German heritage tartans.
There is also the German tartan (with the colours of the German flag), and the Coburg tartan, which was used as a district tartan for Germany before all the new German/Germany tartans were devised.
When I started looking at tartans in February I was overwhelmed at the possibilities, but while I have narrowed my choices down, there are still a number I would love to own!
Regards,
Mike

[Cygnus]

An alternative to basing your tartan off of a surname from your family tree is to determine where your ancestors lived and which clan was dominant in that area at the time they were there. I realize you don't have a lot of information, but getting a couple of generations of names is a good start.

There are plenty of online resources to help you find your ancestors (some are free, some are not). I like to plug names into this map that shows census information to get an idea of where certain surnames were concentrated.

And I want to echo the sentiments of those that have commented on your current avatar - while there are no laws in the US that would prohibit displaying those arms, it is courteous to respect the laws and traditions of others by not assuming someone else's coat of arms.

I hope that didn't come off as snooty or pretentious - it wasn't intended as such!

Good luck finding a tartan and welcome to the forum!