The Johnstones of Johnstone old emblem, Johnstone Crest in the center in this case replaced with the badge, surrounded by 4 Red Hawthorns. The English called the Johnstouns a "large Thorny Patch of Thistle"... Being a Johnston I now call them Hawthorns with much Scottish pride... The motto, in Latin "Nunquam Non Paratus", means "Never Unprepared"; it is usually rendered in Scots as "Ready Aye Ready" (the adverb "Aye" meaning "Always"... Much of the mythology about the border Johnstons is not highland or celtic, but specific to the cultures that developed in the Marches with England. In the century before James VI of Scots became King of England, border families gained a reputation as raiders, mainly for personal rather than patriotic purposes. These "reivers" or "moss troopers" were light horsemen wearing leather jacks and steel morions, and armed with lances, handguns and swords. It is in the renaissance period that our family got the ironic moniker "the gentle Johnston/es"... Taken from The Gentle Johnston/es Australia...

The tag, the Gentle Johnstons, was derived from the practice of skinning alive English captives
who were caught raiding Johnston lands and cattle. The "pelts" were then hung from Lochwood Tower as a warning to other raiders.

Clan Chief's surnames spelled:
Johnstoun, up to ca. 1600
Johnston, ca. 1600-1726
Johnstone, ca. 1726-present.