Scottish Clans
Anderson Tartans & Clan
Gaelic name Mac Ghillie Aindrais
Who Wears Anderson Tartan? - Associated Names
First of all to explain why there are so many tartans, way over 2000 in fact. There are an awful lot of Scottish clans to start with and on top of this each clan can have many different tartans and names associated with it.
- Gillanders
- Manderson
- MacAndrew
- Andrews
- Andrew
- M'Anderson
Anderson Tartans
5 variationsEach tartan can have multiple variations, the most common of which are Ancient, Modern, Weathered, Hunting and Dress
About tartan variations
- Ancient
- Modern
- Weathered
- Hunting
- Dress
Ancient Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans, mossy greens and sky blues, a more orangey red and some would say showing off the pattern to much greater effect as as the contrasts are much brighter than the Modern tartans. The pattern or sett remains the same across all variations of a single tartan, and only the shades or tones vary.
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Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.
Modern Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans. Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.
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The Modern tartans are often the more subtle combinations such as the classic Black Watch Modern
Weathered Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer, more earthy colours typical of the Weathered tartans, reminiscent of bolder colours subjected to wind, rain and sunshine producing beautiful faded tones, olive greens and browns, and very light blues with reds that are more pink than red.
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Some mills refer to the Weathered tartans as Muted.
Hunting Tartan
The Hunting Tartans are the camouflage tartans and some clans don't have these variations because they are already predominantly green or brown and don't need amendment to blend in with nature's colours. The Black Watch or Gunn tartans are examples of these, whereas a tartan such as the Fraser is predominantly red and would not provide much cover for men out hunting.
Helpful Advice
One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if you need an exact match we suggest you order a swatch to double check.
Dress Tartan
The Dress Tartans were designed as the name suggests for celebrations and highland dance. The sett or pattern of the tartan remains the same and the main colour is changed to white, or extra white is added to the pattern to give it a brighter, more "fancy" appearance. The Scots do like to bend the rules and occasionally instead of white thread, yellow is used and this is where the rather wild MacLeod Dress Modern and Barclay Dress Modern came from.
Helpful Advice
One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if you need an exact match we suggest you order a swatch to double check.
Desde el principio
Anderson Clan Historia y Orígenes
Explorar la historia de Clan Anderson
Cómo empezó todo
Territories
Badenoch
Clan Chief
Clan Anderson is an armigerous clan which means that the clan, family or name is registered with the Court of the Lord Lyon, but does not currently have a chief recognised by the Lyon Court. The Clan is currently administered by a Clan council made up of armigerous gentlemen of the clan.
¿Que hay en el nombre Anderson?
Son of Andrew (as does MacAndrew – Mac indicating “son of” in Gaelic)
The Andersons of Aberdeenshire
Many have thought to believe that the Andersons originated from Badenoch, but after further research by the Clan this story has been proven incorrect, this confusion arose as the Leandrish name is very similar to the Anderson name in latin. The largest concentration of early Andersons actually emanate from Aberdeenshire in the 15th Century creating a line of armigerous Landowning and Parliament members whose crest of an 'Oak Tree' and the motto 'Stand Sure' has subsequently been accepted as the Clansman's crest badge and motto for all Andersons.
Anderson is the 8th most common surname in Scotland. The Anderson Tartan is unique among all of the Scottish tartans, as it has seven colours when ordinarily tartans will have six or less colours. Because of this, the Anderson tartan must be woven on a special loom.
Clan Motto: Stand Sure
Clan Crest
As there are multiple branches of the Anderson family, there are a few different clan crests in circulation. The Anderson of Ardbrake & Westerton family have an oak tree crest. Other armigerous Anderson families may have variations of the tree crest, but others have a crescent, a Stag, a cloud, a griffon, a crane's head, a thistle, plus others.
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