Clan Primary Image Sutherland

Scottish Clans

Sutherland Tartans & Clan

The progenitor of Clan Sutherland is the same as the progenitor for Clan Murray. A Flemish knight named Freskin was granted lands in Scotland by David I. One Freskin's grandson was the first Earl of Sutherland and the other was the head of Clan Murray

Clan Motto Sans Peur (Without Fear)

Who Wears Sutherland 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.

  • Chiene
  • Cheyne
  • Clyne
  • Duffes
  • Duffus
  • Federith
  • Gray
  • Keith
  • Mouat
  • Mowatt
  • Murray
  • Oliphant

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:

  • Byron Regiment (Australia)

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

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

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.

Clan Origin Primary Image Sutherland

From the start

Sutherland Clan Origins & History

Clan Origin History Image Sutherland

Explore the history of Clan Sutherland

How it all started

Territories

Unsurprisingly the Clan's lands are in Sutherland in the Highlands.

Clan Chief

The current Chief is Alistair Sutherland, Earl of Sutherland. He succeeded Elizabeth Millicent Sutherland, 24th Countess of Sutherland. Elizabeth was a Scottish noblewoman, and inherited the Chiefship from her uncle, who was made her legal guardian after her parents died when she was a little girl. In order to succeed her uncle as Chief she had to drop the double barrels in her family name.

Where does the name Sutherland come from?

The name was derived from Old Norse suðr or "south" land, due to the area being south of Scandinavia and the Norse colonies in the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

Clan Origin Location Image Sutherland 191001 144604

Dunrobin Castle

Dunrobin Castle is the historic seat of Clan Sutherland, and is located in Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It is unknown the exact date that the castle was built, but it is known that it was before the 16th Century, as in 1518 the Castle was captured by Alexander Sutherland. The Castle has been open to the public since 1973.

Plant Badge

Clan Sutherland's Plant Badge is Cotton Sedge.

Clan Motto: Sans Peur (Without Fear)


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