Clan Buchanan
Crest & Motto
The Buchanan crest shows a hand holding up a ducal cap within a laurel wreath, and the motto is Clarior Hinc Honos: brighter hence the honour.
History
Clan Buchanan’s heartland lies on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond in the old earldom of Lennox, where the lands of Buchanan, from the Gaelic both chanain, house of the canon, gave the family its name. Clan tradition traces descent from Anselan O Kyan, an 11th century Irish prince said to have been granted lands by King Malcolm II. Historically the Buchanans held their estates from the Earls of Lennox from the 13th century, with the chief styled Buchanan of that Ilk.
The clan supported Robert the Bruce in the Wars of Independence, and Buchanans won renown fighting for France in the Hundred Years’ War. Tradition credits Sir Alexander Buchanan with slaying the Duke of Clarence at the Battle of Bauge in 1421, the origin of the crest showing a hand holding aloft a ducal cap. The clan’s most famous son is George Buchanan (1506 to 1582), the great humanist scholar and tutor to both Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI.
The direct chiefly line failed in 1681 with the death of John Buchanan of that Ilk, and the estates were sold soon after. For 337 years Clan Buchanan had no chief, though its identity was kept alive by the Buchanan Society, founded in 1725 and the oldest clan society in Scotland, and later by the Clan Buchanan Society International. In 2018 the Court of the Lord Lyon recognised John Michael Baillie-Hamilton Buchanan as chief, and he was ceremonially inaugurated at Cambusmore, near Callander, in October 2022, the first Buchanan chief installed in over three centuries.
Clan Chief
The current chief is John Michael Baillie-Hamilton Buchanan of that Ilk and Arnprior, known as The Buchanan, of Cambusmore near Callander. Recognised in 2018, inaugurated October 2022.
Clan Tartan
Septs and Family Names
Many family names are counted among the septs of Clan Buchanan. If your surname appears here, your family history leads back to this clan: Bohanan, Bohannan, Bohannon, Bohanon, Buchannan, Buchannon, Buchanon, Buxton, Colman, Cormack, Cousland, Dewar, Dove, Dow, Dowe, Gibb, Gibbon, Gibson, Gilbert, Gilbertson, Harper, Harperson, Leavy, Lennie, Lenny, MacAldonich, MacAlman, MacAlmont, MacAmmond, MacAslan, MacAsland, MacAslin, MacAuselan, MacAuslan, MacAusland, MacAuslane, MacCaslin, MacChruiter, MacColman, MacCormack, MacCubbin, MacCubbing, MacCubin, MacGeorge, MacGibbon, MacGreuisich, MacGubbin, MacInally, MacIndeor, MacIndoe, MacKinlay, MacKinley, MacMaster, MacMaurice, MacMurchie, MacMurchy, MacNeur, MacNuir, MacNuyer, MacQuattie, MacWattie, MacWherter, MacWhirter, Masters, Masterson, McWhirter, Morrice, Morris, Morrison, Murchie, Murchison, Richardson, Risk, Rusk, Ruskin, Spittal, Spittel, Walter, Walters, Wason, Waters, Watson, Watt, Watters, Weir, Yool, Yuill, Yule, Zuill.
Unsure how clan names, crests and septs work? Our guide to Scottish clan names explains the rules.
Further reading
Clan Buchanan Society International
The Buchanan Society, founded 1725, the oldest clan society in Scotland.
The Buchanan Crest as a 3D Model
You can download the Buchanan crest as a 3D model file (£10 to £25) and print it on any 3D printer, or carve it in wood on a CNC machine.
See the Buchanan lands by Loch Lomond on our interactive clan map of Scotland.
