The story has been handed down as one concerning the "Macdonalds of Glencoe", and indeed the victims were of Clan Macdonald, but as descendants of Iain Fraoch, bastard son of Angus Og and brother of John Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, they bore the name MacIain. Their immediate Chief at the time of the massacre was designated "Mac Ian of Glenco" in the warrant King William signed. (Known variations of the spelling of MacIain include McCain, MacKean, MacKane, MacKain and MacKeen.)

The MacIains of Glencoe appear now to have no recognised chief, the clansmen giving their allegiance directly to Godfrey Macdonald of Macdonald, Lord Macdonald of Slate, Chief of the Name and Arms of Macdonald. No one today bears the Glencoe arms (Argent an eagle displayed Gules surmounted of a lymphad Sable and in the dexter chief a hand Proper holding a cross-crosslet fitchee Azure). The badge the Glencoe clansmen bear is thus the badge of Macdonald of Macdonald. However, it is open to a claimant to petition to be recognised as MacIain of Glencoe, and perhaps one may yet come forth.

The question of the MacCain tartan is difficult to answer. McIan's famous 1845 print of a Glencoe clansman shows an unrecognisable tartan, and the different pattern in Ian Grimble's 1977 book appears to have no authority. The Tartans Museum has an unknown tartan discovered in Glencoe, believed to be local but without documentation to support its origin, that may be the best candidate.

Without a Chief to matriculate the Arms, Crest and Motto of MacIain of Glencoe, no badge can be defined authoritatively unless the Lord Lyon wishes to intervene to do so. However, it is possible to design a badge that accords with the history and tradition of the MacIains of Glencoe and honours the laws of heraldry. James Logan in 1845 claimed the crest of the MacIains of Glencoe to be be a raven Sable on a rock Azure, but this today is assigned to the Macdonalds of Glengarry. Accordingly, the crest could be the dexter chief charge in the arms (a hand Proper holding a cross-crosslet fitchee Azure), and this crest could be encircled by the clansman's strap-and-buckle to form the clansman's badge.