Clann Cockade
or "We don't need no Stinking Badges!"
Since ClannTartan portray a mercenary company, It is necessary for us to be able to recognize our own troops in the heat of battle. Since soldiers wore their own clothes, armies of the 1600's would use a field sign to recognize friendly troops. These field signs would have to be visible at a glance. One way this was done was to affix a brightly colored ribbon, or cloth to one's hat. Eventually this became known as a cockade. The Jacobites wore a white cockade, the Hanoverians, black.
On modern balmorals and glengarries, the black Hanoverian cockade is where you affix your clan, or military badge. During the time period which Clann Tartan portrays, metal clan badges did not exist, but cockades did, so Clann Tartan is adopting a cockade in the form of a yellow saitire (St. Andrew's Cross). WHY YELLOW? If you look at our regimental ensign, it is yellow with the St. Andrew's saitire (the national flag) in the upper left canton, and a coat of arms with red and white feathers in the center. Yellow is the heraldic color for gold, and what Scotsman wants to be far from gold? So let's replace our stinking badges with a period cockade that claims allegiance to no single clan, but is the uniform of Colonel Gaffney's Regiment. Be the first on your block to get the new Clann Tartan cockade. Contact your Regimental Staff for details.
