From the proscribed plaid of 1746 to the ceremonial Full Highland Dress of today's Royal Regiment of Scotland, the Highland soldier has worn the same silhouette for 260 years.
Quick answer. Scottish Highland military uniform is a kilt or trews in a regimental tartan, worn with a short red doublet (or dark green for rifle regiments), a feather bonnet or Glengarry, a sporran, hose and brogues, and the regimental dirk. The modern pattern dates from 1739 with the raising of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment (Black Watch) and has stayed broadly consistent ever since.
Before the regiments: the clansman at war
Up to 1725, the Scottish Highland fighting man was a civilian in his own clothes. He wore the belted plaid, a single length of woollen cloth about five yards long and 60 inches wide, pleated at the waist and belted, with the upper half worn as a cloak or wrapped around the body. Over that went a shirt, a short jacket and a bonnet. His weapons were a basket hilted broadsword, a dirk, a targe (round shield) and a flintlock musket when he could get one.
After the 1715 Jacobite rising the government formed the Independent Highland Companies to police the hills. These wore government tartans, the first regulated Highland uniform. In 1739 they were regimented as the 43rd (later 42nd) Highland Regiment, the Black Watch. For deep background on the pre regimental Scottish fighting dress, our Highland regiment uniforms piece has the long version.
The 1739 pattern: birth of the regimental Highlander
The 42nd was ordered to wear a government sett tartan, now called the Black Watch tartan, cut as a belted plaid, with a red waistcoat, red short jacket, blue bonnet with a red tourie, grey hose and buckled brogues. Officers wore a longer skirted red coat and a basket hilted broadsword. The men carried the Brown Bess musket and the dirk.
This formula, red doublet, kilt or belted plaid, bonnet, dirk, sporran, hose, defined every Highland regiment raised afterwards: the 71st Fraser's Highlanders in 1757, the 78th Seaforth in 1793, the 79th Cameron in 1793, the 93rd Sutherland in 1799, the 92nd Gordon in 1794. Each got its own tartan, kept the pattern.
The proscription of 1746
After Culloden, the Dress Act 1746 banned the kilt, plaid, trews and tartan for all Scotsmen except those serving in the army. For the next 36 years, the only legal way to wear Highland dress was to enlist in a Highland regiment. The regiments became the custodians of the tradition.
The Act was repealed in 1782 by the Duke of Montrose, and civilian Highland dress revived. By the time of George IV's visit to Edinburgh in 1822, orchestrated by Sir Walter Scott, kilts were court dress. See our British 18th century military uniforms piece for the broader regimental context.
The 19th century: the Victorian Highland style
Through the 19th century the uniform shortened and crispened. The belted plaid gave way to the small kilt (feileadh beag) in 1800, a knee length pleated garment held by a belt. The red doublet acquired the Inverness skirt, four flap tails at the waist. The feather bonnet grew to its ostrich plume height of 15 to 18 inches, with regimental hackles: red for the Black Watch, white for the Camerons.
Officers added the fly plaid, a short decorative plaid pinned to the shoulder, and the broadsword became ceremonial. The dirk, sporran and sgian dubh (sock dagger) completed Full Dress. Our British Victorian uniforms piece shows how Highland dress fitted alongside the line regiments at the height of empire.
Twentieth century: trenches and amalgamations
The First World War ended Highland dress on active service. From 1914, kilts were covered by khaki aprons, and by 1940 they were withdrawn entirely from field dress. In 1947 the 51st Highland Division wore khaki battledress with Tam o' Shanter bonnets, not kilts, in Normandy.
Ceremonial Highland dress returned in 1950s parade and mess kit. The 2006 amalgamation created the Royal Regiment of Scotland, now the single Scottish regiment of the line, with five battalions each retaining their predecessor's tartan: Black Watch, Royal Highland Fusiliers, King's Own Scottish Borderers, Highlanders, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
Full Highland Dress today
Modern Full Highland Dress for an officer of the Royal Regiment of Scotland is: Prince Charlie or doublet jacket in dark blue, kilt in regimental tartan, hose in diced pattern, buckled brogues, sgian dubh in the sock, sporran, cross belt, dirk, feather bonnet with regimental hackle, and sword. The whole kit weighs around 7 kilos.
Private soldiers at ceremonial events wear the kilt, red doublet, sporran, hose, brogues and feather bonnet. The ceremonial troop at Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Guard of Honour at Balmoral, and the massed pipes and drums of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo all wear this version. For a wider look at where it fits in the British system, our British military uniforms guide maps the full landscape.
Common questions
What is the oldest Highland regiment?
The 42nd Royal Highland Regiment, the Black Watch, raised in 1739 from the Independent Highland Companies.
Were kilts worn in the First World War?
Yes, initially, with a khaki apron over the front. By 1940 they were withdrawn from active service and reserved for ceremonial duty.
What tartan does the Royal Regiment of Scotland wear?
Each battalion keeps its predecessor's tartan: Black Watch, Mackenzie, Leslie, Cameron of Erracht and Argyll. The regimental tartan is Government Sett 1A.
What is the sgian dubh?
A small single edged knife worn in the top of the right sock. From Scots Gaelic sgian dubh, 'black knife'. Ceremonial today, originally functional.
Why do officers wear a fly plaid?
A short decorative length of tartan pinned to the left shoulder, dating from the 19th century. It represents the belted plaid that was abolished in 1800.