The MacTavish Tartan
Proudly worn since 1982 — our link to an ancient Highland clan and a living Scottish tradition.
MacTavish Tartan — Red, Navy & Black
- Navy Blue — loyalty & integrity
- Deep Red — passion & courage
- Black — strength & determination
Woven in Colour & Meaning
The MacTavish tartan is a bold and striking weave of deep navy blue, deep red, and black — colours that together tell the story of the clan. Navy blue speaks of loyalty and integrity, qualities the MacTavishes demonstrated time and again through centuries of Highland life. The deep red carries the fire of passion and courage, while the black threads speak of strength and unyielding resolve.
Like all great tartans, the MacTavish pattern exists in several variations. The Modern tartan renders these colours in their full, vivid intensity. The Ancient variation simulates the softer, earthier tones of plant-based dyes used before the 1860s — mossy blues, orange-tinged reds, and warm blacks — recalling the cloth as it might have looked on the hills of Knapdale centuries ago.
The tartan is registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans, and its associated surnames — Thompson, Thomson, Cash, Holmes, and others — are all recognised as part of the wider MacTavish family. To wear it is to carry a piece of living Highland history.
An Ancient Highland Clan
Clan MacTavish — Na MacTàmhais in Scottish Gaelic — is one of Scotland’s oldest Highland clans, with roots stretching back over a thousand years to the ancient kingdom of Dalriada on the western coast of Argyll. Their ancestral stronghold, Dunardry, sits in the heart of Knapdale, Argyllshire, a land of sea-lochs and mist-covered hills that shaped the clan’s rugged character.
The clan’s name derives from the Gaelic Mac Tamhais — “son of Thomas” — and their progenitor is traditionally held to be Taus Coir, known as Thomas the Just, who lived in the eleventh century. His descendants became known as a distinct and proud people, fiercely independent despite pressure over the centuries to align with the dominant Clan Campbell of Argyll.
Proudly Worn Since 1982
In 1982, the members of the Lowland Brigade Pipe Band came together and made a unanimous decision: they would adopt the MacTavish tartan as their own. It was a choice born of deep admiration for the clan’s history, values, and the rugged beauty of the tartan itself — and every single member voted in favour.
More than four decades on, we wear it still, with the same pride that first inspired that decision. It has become part of who we are — inseparable from our identity as a band.
That choice has proven to be a defining one. In a world of pipe bands, the MacTavish tartan sets us apart. Wherever we perform — at performanes across the Netherlands and the res of Europe — our colours are immediately recognisable. The distinctive pattern turns heads and invites conversation, drawing audiences into the story of the clan and the tradition we represent.
In 2025, the Lowland Brigade Pipe Band was honoured with a distinction that made our long connection to Clan MacTavish official: we were appointed the Official European Pipe Band of Clan MacTavish by the 27th Hereditary Chief, Steve MacTavish of Dunardry. It was a moment of extraordinary pride for every member of our band, and a recognition that what began as a unanimous vote among a group of passionate musicians in 1982 had grown into something far greater — a living, sounding bridge between the Scottish Highlands and the lowlands of the Netherlands.