"white uniforms (and what is so special about them ?)" Topic

Hello everybody,

My question is about white uniforms. What was so special about them ? No other color was so popular.
For example, blue was just for only 3 armies: French, Prussian and Bavarian. Green for one army: Russian. Red for 3: British, Swiss and Danish.
But white uniforms were worn by at least 6 armies:
- Austrian
- Dutch
- Piedmontese
- Naples
- Saxon
- Westphalian
(sources: Napoleon's Foreign Infantry here link
and Knotel's Uniformenkunde here link and Google Images)

Even the French line infantry wore white uniforms shortly. I think in 1806 ? And not to mention the French horse carabiniers after 1809. Even the Poles had infantry regiment in white.

So what is so special about the white uniforms ?

They were all a bunch of racist. and belived white uniforms to be superious or the other "colord" uniforms.

You can save lots of money on dye.

Most dyes came from the colonies, and were therefore expensive for land powers, or off-limits altogether if you're blockaded, or if those colonies are in revolt.

Easy to clean – bleach them.

Other armies in blue: Sweden, Portugal, Baden, Wurtemburg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Spain (after 1808), Dutch-Belgians (1815). United States, Grand Duchy of Warsaw.

But I think Lukhum has it right – white is cheapest, since you don't have to dye it, hence its popularity.

Cost.

White is a cheap colour to produce.

Red was used by the British for the same reason.

Blues and greens are more expensive.

Hanoverians also wore red.

Yup, cost.

A better question is, what paint color matches the undyed uniforms the best? White seems too stark and better suited for crossbelts yet beige or sand, even like the lightest shade seems too dark.

I'd like to hear what others have used to get that "off white" or undyed effect as I have some Spanish to paint!
Larry

Use a very very light grey color. Ral Partha's regular Grey color was perfect. Now sold under the IWM label, if you can find them.It almost looks white, until you use a regular white for highlighting or belts, then the difference is apparent.

In the 18th Century, the French and Austrians were known to use pipeclay to whiten their uniform coats, which was fairly easy to do.

Yes, undyed wool was an off-white. And it all has to do with costs.

One reason that Russia had green uniforms is because they had access to huge amounts of copper, which was used in the dye.

Brick red was also cheap. 'Prussian blue' was a new invention in the 1730s and far cheaper than indigo, so lots of armies like Prussia went wild with that color.

You can tell the wealthier countries in the 1700s by the number of colors displayed by their regular troops.

Just remember that with minis – as in real life – distance makes everything appear darker.

That's why I paint the "red" bits of uniforms a bright orange. From a few feet away, real red looks like dull brown.

But the real read uniforms, certainly those of the British OR's was a dull reddish brown. If you paint them orange they look, errr… orange.

Distance desaturates the apparent hue.

The users of white uniforms were not dyed-in-the-wool supporters of the fashion and textile industries and did not wish to compete with France, England, Russia, or others on that front.

Cheaper and hold overs from many armies of earlier time frame.

It's easier to see fleas and lice on a white uniform.

I wonder why I feel itchy just now?

What about Cuirassiers I most armies?

The dutch wore always blue, just from 1806 to 1810 in white

Having worn some white wool uniforms, they tend to get yellowy with grime and sweat.

What about Cuirassiers I most armies?

White was the traditional colour for heavy cavalry in almost all armies in the early 1700's and some countries just continued the tradition.

Just remember that with minis – as in real life – distance makes everything appear darker.

Except with white/off-white, which looks lighter. As spontoon could probably relate, those "yellowed" uniforms probably appear a rather bright white from as little as 30 yards away.

I can personally attest to the fact that untreated "white" wool (still on the sheep actually) is barely the palest grey at that distance, and that's when the stupid critters are dirty to boot! At the distance where you'd commence musketry, they're just off-white and that's still without the benefit of cleaning, carding, bleaching and pipeclaying.

Because you can use chalk or pipe-clay to hide stains?

<<But white uniforms were worn by at least 6 armies:
- Austrian
- Dutch
- Piedmontese
- Naples
- Saxon
- Westphalian>>

Spanish being the obvious omission from there, of course. Interesting that, apart from the Spnaish and Austrian, the others are all very small armies, two of which were satellites of the Austrians to some extent.

Piedmontese?

When did they wear white uniforms? I have found them in blue from the mid-1700s til 1796

Piedmontese?

Perhaps he means the Kingdom of Northern Italy? Not that Piedmont was part of it, but they did wear white.

I don't think white uniforms were at all common during the Napoleonic Period. Blue uniformed troops were the most common (France, Poland, Prussia, Sweden, Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Hesse, Netherlands etc), with white in second place.

Everyone on the thread seems to have focused on the practical/utilitarian aspects of the question (i.e. cleanliness & dyeing) but I'm surprised that no-one seems to have mentioned the root reasons for choosing national colours. Military dress was often a throw-back to earlier heraldry/pageantry/symbolism and often they just seem to have copied the colours on the flags of the Country/Nation/Ruling Family.

For example red is important in England because of the cross of St George (plus the 3 lions flag of the monarchy coming from way back in Plantagenet times).
The French chose blue because it's an important part of the Tricolor (and they couldn't have white because it looks too 'Bourbon').

So why did Austria, Spain and many of the smaller nations use white? My quess is that it is a throw-back to the Holy Roman Empire which many of the Ruling families had strong links with.

Lighter colours tended to be adopted by Catholic countries (white mainly, or the lighter blue of Bavaria), with dark colours (blue and red) being Protestant. Oddly enough, until the British capture of New France, the same was true of bearskin caps v cloth/metal mitre caps for grenadiers.

My understanding was that originally uniform colour was a matter for regimental colonels. In early 18th C this was still the case for Russia, though most other nations had standardised by then. There were no doubt a whole variety of reasons for colour choice, of which heraldry may have been one and affordability another.

Once states decided to standardise uniforms I am sure the impact on the Treasury was a factor. The Austrians were notoriously parsimonious and it would be no surprise if the issue weighed heavily with them. White did feature in their heraldry though, but in association with red and yellow.

The first English standardisation was by the Parliamentary army in the Civil War, or so I have always understood, when the New Model Army adopted red. I doubt that heraldry had much to do with this – but that availability did – as well as the need to stand out from other troops. I don't know whether the adoption of the colour by the New Model Army had much to do with its subequent use in the army after restoration though.

The French after the revolution certainly wanted to make a point, adopting the red white and blue of the revolution, and wanting to make a break with the royalists.

The red. blue and white were just the colours of Paris (red and blue) combined with the bourbon white. First used on the cocade. The uniform adopted was almost the same as the uniform of the national garde uniform of Paris.

white also has a connotation of legitimacy and purity, and is associated with some of the royal houses.

The Swiss Cantonal troops wore mainly blue (not red).

Which royal house wore white? Afaik french, dutch, prussian and spanish royal household wore blue or red, british red and blue. Only small countries wore maybe whire.

royal houses, not national army uniforms

Scarlet tended to be a very common colour amongst household troops, at least in the 18th Century, because of the cost.