Scottish Clans

MacDonald Tartans & Clan

Aonghus Og showed considerable loyalty to Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence and thereafter in battle, Clan MacDonald has been granted the honoured position to the right-hand side of the monarch.

Clan Motto Per mare Per Terras (By Land and By Sea)

Who Wears MacDonald 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.

Alastair
Allister
Anderson
Ballach
Balloch
Beath
Beaton
Bethune
Bowie
Brodie
Budge
Buie
Bulloch
Cambridge
Cathal
Cathil
Cochran
Cochrane
Coll
Colson
Conn
Connal
Connell
Cook
Cooke
Coull
Coulson
Cririe
Cromb
Crombie
Croom
Crum
Daniel
Daniels
Darrach
Darroch
Donaldson
Donnell
Drain
Dunnel
Forrest
Forrester
Galbraith
Galbreath
Gall
Galt
Gauld
Gaul
Gault
Gilbride
Gill
Gorrie
Gorry
Gowan
Gowans
Hawthorn
Heron
Hewison
Houstoun
Houston
Howat
Howe
Howie
Howison
Hudson
Hutcheon
Hutcheson
Hutchin
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Hutchon
Hutson
Isles
Jeffrey
Keegan
Keighren
Kelly
Kinnell
Laing
Lang
Leitch
MacArthur
MacBeath
MacBeth
MacBheath
MacBrayne
MacBride
MacBryde
MacCaa
MacCairn
MacCambridge
MacCarron
MacCaw
MacCay
MacCluskie
MacCodrum
MacColl
MacConnal
MacConnell
MacCooish
MacCook
MacCosham
MacCrain
MacCran
MacCririe
MacCrorie
MacCrum
MacCuaig
MacCuish
MacCuithein
MacCutchen
MacCutcheon
MacDaniell
MacDrain
MacEachern
MacEachran
MacElfish
MacElheran
MacGaa
MacGaw
MacGeachy
MacGechie
MacGee
MacGhee
MacGhie
MacGill
MacGorrie
MacGorry
MacGoun
MacGow
MacGowan
MacGown
MacGrain
MacHugh
MacHutchen
MacHutcheon
MacIllrick
MacIlreach
MacIlrevie
MacIliriach
MacIlwraith
MacIlwrick
MacKay
MacKeachie
MacKee
MacKeithan
MacKellaig
MacKelloch
MacKerron
MacKey
MacKie
MacKiggan
MacKinnell
MacLairish
MacLardy
MacLarty
MacLaverty
MacLeverty
MacMurchie
MacMurphy
MacMurdo
MacMurdoch
MacO'Shannaig
MacQuilkan
MacQuistan
MacQuisten
MacRaith
MacRearie
MacRorie
MacRory
MacRuer
MacRury
MacRyrie
MacSorley
MacSporran
MacSwan
MacSween
MacWhan
MacWhannell
Mark
Marquis
Martin
May
Murchie
Murchison
Murdoch
Murdoson
Murphy
O'May
Paton
Patten
Peden
Purcell
Reoch
Revie
Riach
Roderick
Rorie
Rorison
Ryrie
Shannon
Shennan
Sorley
Sorlie
Sporran
Train
Whannel
Wheelan
Whellan
Wilkie
Wilkinson

Associated Regiments

Over the last 300 years, tartans have been a part of official dress for some of the most famous regiments throughout the military world! Their respective regimental tartans became undisputedly tied to the very core identity of the soldiers who wear it. Explore the associated regiments below:

71 Engineer Regiment (Scotland)
Deoli Regiment, 42nd. (Bombay)

Jump To Shop History Explore

Shop MacDonald Tartans & Clan From Curtains to Clothing, use the filters below to navigate through everything we offer in MacDonald Tartans

Macdonald Tartans

37 variations

Each tartan can have multiple variations, the most common of which are Ancient, Modern, Weathered, Hunting and Dress

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MacDonald of Glenaladale Modern

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.

Helpful Advice

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.

Helpful Advice

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.

Helpful Advice

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

From the start

MacDonald Clan Origins & History

Explore the history of Clan MacDonald

How it all started

Territories

Originally, the MacDonalds were the Lords of the Isles, but have since spread throughout the Highlands. This is a monumental clan with several branches and vast lands having belonged to them. Lochaber, the Isles of Skye and Lewis, and, of course, Glencoe are famously associated with Clan MacDonald. The branches of the clan recognised by the Lord Lyon today are Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan MacAlister. Historically, other branches existed and these were the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg, Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh, the MacDonalds of Glencoe, and the MacDonalds of Ardnamurchan. Clan MacDonald extends to Ireland as well with the MacDonnells of Antrim, but they do not belong to the Scottish associations and instead have a chief officially recognised in Ireland.

Clan Chief

There are many branches of Clan MacDonald and because of this, there are also many MacDonald Chiefs. They are:

Clan Donald: Godfrey James Macdonald of that Ilk
The 8th Baron Macdonald, Chief of the Name and Arms of Macdonald, High Chief of Clan Donald, and 34th hereditary Chief of Clan Donald.

Clan Macdonald of Sleat: Sir Ian Godfrey Bosville Macdonald of Sleat, 17th Baronet of Sleat, 25th Chief of Macdonald of Sleat (Mac Ùisdein)

Clan Macdonald of Clanranald: Ranald Alexander Macdonald of ClanranaldThe 24th Chief and Captain of Clanranald (Mac Mhic Ailein)

Clan MacDonell of Glengarry: Colin Patrick MacDonell, 24th Chief of Macdonell of Glengarry

Clan MacDonald of Keppoch: Ranald Alasdair Macdonald of Keppoch

Clan MacAlister: William St John Somerville McAlester of Loup and Kennox. The Chief of the Name and Arms of MacAlister (Mac Iain Duibh)

Where does the name MacDonald come from?

The origin of the name comes from the Scottish Gaelic MacDhòmhnaill, translating to son of Donald. Clan Donald is descended from Dòmhnall (Donald) Mac Raghnuill of the late medieval period. Dòmhnall is composed of the elements domno meaning "world" and val meaning "might" or "rule".

Finlaggan Castle

Finlaggan Castle is located in Finlaggan on the Isle of Islay and is the historic seat of Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald. The Castle is also referred to as Eilean Mor Castle and it is thought that it was built in the 13th Century. The Castle was originally the seat of the Lord of the Isles, when they first rebelled against the King of Scots. However, the reign of Lord of the Isles finally ended in 1493 when King James IV had the then Lord of the Isles imprisoned until his death, with no heir. After this the Castle fell to ruins, which is thought to have happened during the 16th Century.

Septs of MacDonald

Who can wear Clan MacDonald's tartan? The question isn't who can wear MacDonald tartan, it would be more appropriate to list those who can't as the list of septs is so extensive that anyone from Alastair to Wilkinson with about 200 other names in between!

MacDonald Clan Crest

The MacDonald clan crest features an armoured hand atop a coronet crown, and holding a cross. The Latin motto on the crest reads Per Mare Per Terras and translates to “By sea and land.” This undoubtedly refers to the vastness of this clan, being the largest of all the Highland clans and having control of many lands from the west coast and beyond.

Aonghus Og

MacDonald Clan Plant Badge

The MacDonald plant badge is common heath -- or Scottish heather. The name heather is thought to come from the old Scottish word haeddre, which was used as long ago as the 14th century. This plant is also the famed “flower of Scotland”, so it makes sense that such a significant plant is associated with this very powerful clan.

Keeping in line with the clan's love of Scottish heather, their war cry is fraoch eilean in Gaelic, which translates to "the heathery isle."

Clan MacDonald Coat of Arms

Many of the branches of this clan have their own coat of arms, but perhaps one of the most recognisable versions is this one. It features a rather imposing-looking eagle and ship, represent most clearly this clan's motto -- by land and by sea.

MacDonald Pipe Music

Clanranald's March (Spaidsearachd Mhic Ailein in Gaelic) is a favorite tune of the Clanranald branch of this clan.

Discover Clan MacDonald

Join Kalyn and Monja live from the ScotlandShop Sofa to explore our Clan of the Month; The MacDonalds! This is a monumental Clan with several branches and vast lands stretching over the Highlands. When the Clan originated they were known as the Lord of the Isles as they owned many of the Scottish Islands on the West, but their territories slowly grew over the years. From the Clan origins to its tartans, seats and societies, we'll explore it all as part of our Clan of the Month celebrations.

MacDonald Famous Faces

Flora MacDonald

Flora MacDonald is arguably one of the most famous members of Clan MacDonald, first creating her legacy by helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape "over the sea to Skye", there was even a song written about it! Discover more about this incredible woman and the other members of Clan MacDonald on the Tartan Blog.

Read the blog

Clan MacDonald

Tartan Poll

There are over 30 tartan variants available for the MacDonald Clan, From Modern and Hunting to Ancient and Weathered, with gorgeous green, red and even blue tartans, this Clan is truly spoilt for choice. But which is your favourite SMacDonald Clan Tartan? Vote now!

Vote now!

Clan MacDonald

Quiz

How much do you think you know about Clan MacDonald? Enough to get all 12 questions correct? Test your MacDonald Clan Knowledge now!

Test your knowledge

Clan Donald Society

The Clan Donald Society of Scotland is open to all who are MacDonalds by descent or by marriage. If you're interested in your MacDonald history and heritage, then the society has a lot to offer you. In addition to providing a community for members of the clan to explore their ancestry, the society offers lectures, ceilidhs, and other events to its members.

Join the Society