Clan badge facts for kids

A clan badge, also known as a plant badge, is a special symbol used by Scottish clans. It's usually a small branch or sprig from a specific plant. Clan members wear these badges to show which clan they belong to.

A Victorian era painting of a Highlander. He is a MacLennan and wears a sprig of furze as his clan badge.

People often wore their clan badge on their bonnet (a type of hat) behind their Scottish crest badge. Ladies might pin it to their tartan sash. Long ago, it was believed that clans used these plant badges to tell friends from enemies during battles. For example, during a battle in Aberdeen, soldiers under Montrose used sprigs of oats to identify each other. Other groups in Scotland also used simple items like paper or white ribbons (called the "White Cockade" by the Jacobites) for identification.

What Are Clan Badges?

Clan badges are like a secret code or a team uniform from the past. They helped people know who was part of their group. Imagine a sports team wearing a specific color or symbol; clan badges were similar.

Why Do Clans Have Badges?

Many clans have a specific plant that is considered their badge. These plants are often found in the areas where the clan lived. It's a way to connect the clan to its land and history.

Are Clan Badges Really Old?

While many people think clan badges were used in ancient battles, some experts say they might not be as old as we imagine. Some plants used as badges only grow during certain times of the year. This would make them hard to use for identification all the time.

Instead of plant badges, very old gatherings often used heraldic flags. These were special flags like banners and standards that showed a clan's unique symbols.

Why Do Some Clans Have Many Badges?

It can be confusing because some clans have more than one plant badge! Writers in the 1800s sometimes listed different plants for the same clan. One idea is that if a clan took over new lands, they might also start using the plant badge from that area.

However, some large groups of clans share the same badges because they are historically connected:

• The Clan Donald group (like the Macdonalds and Macdonells) all share the common heath as their badge.
• The Clan Chattan group (including the Mackintosh and Macpherson clans) often use red whortleberry, bearberry, or boxwood. The leaves of these plants look very similar.
• The Siol Alpin group (such as the Grants and Gregors) are thought to share a common ancestor. They all use Scots Pine as their clan badge.

Sometimes, a clan's badge comes from symbols on their chief's coat of arms. For example, the Farquharsons use pine, which also appears on their chief's coat of arms.

Common Plant Badges

Here are some of the plants used as clan badges:

Calluna vulgaris or Common Heather. This is the clan badge for the clans of Clan Donald.

Scots Pine is used by all the clans of Siol Alpin.

Oak is a badge for the Buchanans, Camerons, Kennedys, Macfies, Stewarts, and Woods.

Crowberry is a badge for the Camerons, Macfies, and Macleans.

Cranberry is a badge for the MacAulays and Macfarlanes.

Furze (also known as Gorse) is a badge for the Carruthers, Logans, MacLennans, and Sinclairs.

Broom is a badge for the Forbes, Homes, Mathesons, and Murrays.

Juniper is a badge for the Gunn, Macleods, Murrays, Nicolsons, and Rosses.

Boxwood is a badge for the Davidsons, Macbains, MacDuffs, Macgillivrays, and Macqueens.

Holly is a badge for the Drummonds, MacInneses, MacMillans, and Mathesons.

Bell Heather is a badge for the MacDougalls.

Lesser periwinkle is a badge for the Maclachlans.

See also

• Flora of Scotland
• Language of flowers
• Scottish crest badge