Just what to call the army of Christian IV is a bit of riddle as the "identity" of his army changed several times during his war with the Emperor and Catholic Leauge. For a good part of the war he acted as the leader of the army of the Lower Saxon Circle to which the King of Denmark supplied a contingent of troops as he as Duke of Holstein was a member of the Circle. Later on as Denmark itself was under threat and then invaded the struggle became much more 'Danish'. And then there is the question of what to call the Protestant army in Christians nominal service which was raised and mantained in Silesia?
Even though it is more or less inaccurate calling the armies of Christian IV of Denmark "TYW Danish/TYW Danes" simplifies things a lot.
Christian's IV's army used regimental uniforms though the extent to which this was done is not clear. In theory Christian's vast wealth meant that supplies should not have been a problem early in the war. Particularly as Christian was only supposed to pay for "his" troops (7 regiments of Cuirassiers and 4 regiments of foot) while his allies and the Circle paid for the remainder.
Two sets of regimental uniforms are known
The King's Life regiment wore blue uniforms with white decorations while the 'Red' regiment wore red coats with breeches in red, yellow or blue. The identity of the Red regiment is somewhat controversial, traditionaly it is considered by Danish historians to be identical with the 'Danish regiment' made up of native Danes rather than Germans. However I've noted that in at least one original document the name 'Red regiment' is applied to an entirely diffrent German regiment. But I've not yet seen the complete body of evidence on which the traditional historians rely.
Christian's Cuirassier regiments were a bit unusal, in all 7 regiments each of 4 companies. Each company had 81 Cuirassiers and 25 mounted Arkebusiers plus officers.
The infantry was organised in companies with 200 fighting men plus officers & NCO's. 50% pikes, 50% shot. The Life regiment (aka Blue regiment) was 20 companies strong including the King's personal Lifecompany 400 strong. The Red regiment of Col. Von Linstow, the Green regiment of Lt-Col Von der Lippe and Lt-Col Von Meye's regiment were all 12 companies strong. Christian also supplied his own artillery train of eight 20-pounders, eight 8-pounders, twentyeight 4-pounders and two mortars.
In late 1625 issued orders which laid down that the field sign of the army was to be a sash that was half blue, half "brandtgelb" (Lite fire yellow, a orange tone of yellow) tied togther with a white band in bow. The previous field sign is not known but Christian could well have kept using the blue sashes made mandatory in 1621. However as the army of the Catholic Leauge also wore blue sashes in this period the new field signs were introduced to separate friend from foe more easily. Christian also forbade the use of any feathers but white ones.
After the defeat at Lutter am Barenberg Christian changed the standards and flags used by the army as well. Post-battle all flags were to have the Danish "Dannebrog" in the upper canton in the same way as ECW flags where marked with a cross of St. George (see pics below)
King's Life regiment/Blue Regiment
Uniform
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Flags
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Red regiment
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Unknown Danish infantry flag
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Danish cavalry standard, possibly for Cuirassiers
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Danish cavalry standard from 1627, notice the lack of a Dannebrog.
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takes a look at flexible roads made from long-lasting flexible resin.
