The origin of tartan was probably one of association with a region. Early travellers tell us that a person’s place of origin could be told from his tartan rather than his name. This stood to reason, since in early times, most people did not use family names.

Therefore the concept of 'district' tartan is older than that of clans. Today individuals should take pride in the district tartan associated with their family or alternatively an area of Scotland which they have visited and enjoyed.