"A Question of Colours" Topic

Gentlemen, I was slightly astonished to find several colour bearers included with my recent order of British colonial infantry. I'm aware that the the colours were not carried into battle after about 1880, but, since I have them… is there a reference for British colours of that late period? If I remember properly each battalion would have carried a National Colour and a Queens Colour. At the warflag.com site I found free, downloadable British colours from the American War of Independence. Did the colours appearance change significantly from 1783 to 1880 (at 15mm would anyone be able to tell the difference)? Thanks in advance for your help.

Billy Yank

hi billy yank,there is an osprey on british colours which might help if you are looking for great detail
and in answer to the question there would be quite a difference between the awi flags and late victorian,design,size etc,but in 15mm its hard to say the impact on morale of your troops .
i would suggest also having a look at some british regt web sites, the 28th regt of foot has quite a history of its regimental [facing coloured] and royal colours [union flag] on their site

Billy Y,

After the Acts of Union 1800/1801, the union flag changed to incorporate a St Patrick's Cross to represent Ireland. The King's colours carried by British units during the AWI therefore would be quite different from the Queen's colours of the Victorian period (and this difference is noticeable in 15mm). To my mind, you could get away with using Napoleonic colours and these can also be found at warflag.

Thanks gents! I missed the British Napoleonic flags the first time I browsed through the site. I also found that my 20th ed. Sword and the Flame rule set has a short section on the colours. Guess I should get the paints out now…

BY

One thing that would change between 1801 and 1881 would be the accumulation of battle honours.

Examples on post 1881 flags:
link