In this paper, the behavior of plates partially restrained against rotation under stress gradient is investigated. As a first stage, an energy formulation is presented to model this boundary condition and a general expression is derived for the prediction of the elastic buckling of the plate under this general loading condition. The accuracy of the derived expression is compared numerically using the Galerkin method with other available data for the two limiting conditions of rotationally free and clamped boundaries. Results show that the prediction is within a 5% difference. The influence of rotational restraint and stress gradient upon the buckling load and the associated buckling mode is investigated. Numerical results show sensitivity of the buckling mode to the degree of rotational restraint and the variation of the buckling load with the stress gradient.