About TartanFlag

A tartan is a family's flag: the pattern you fly to say who you are.

What this site is for

People type a surname into a search engine and ask, “what is my tartan?” Too often the answer is a thin page built to sell a kilt. We try to answer the question properly: the clan, its history, its tartans, the crest and motto, the lands. Then we make it easy to act on the answer.

Who runs it

TartanFlag is run by a small team in the UK using AI tools. Pages are researched and drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed at the foot of each one.

We are independent. We are not affiliated with any clan, chief or clan society, and nothing here is official. For authoritative answers, go to the Scottish Register of Tartans, the Court of the Lord Lyon and the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.

How we write

Clan histories are contested, and many surname links are traditional, not proven. We say so. If we cannot source a fact, we leave it out. A surname that is only associated with a clan is labelled that way.

Tartan swatches are drawn in code from published thread counts. Shades on a screen are a guide; woven cloth varies by mill.

How the site pays for itself

Two ways: commissions from retailers we link to, and our own merchandise. Neither changes what we write. See the affiliate disclosure.

Corrections

If something is wrong and you can point to a source, write to hello@tartanflag.com. We will fix it.