"Great Northern War Same Flags per Regiment or Battalion?" Topic

As far as I understand it, a regiment was split into two battalions and both battalions would have the same flags?

Which nation are you asking about ?

For example:

The Swedish infantry line regiments had 8 companies each with their own colour. They would be deployed in 2 battalions.

link

tacitus.nu/gnw/colours

To elaborate a little. One of the companies would be the Colonels company and his colour would often be quite different from the other company colours.

Battalions were 'field' units. For Swedish regiments – 8 companies (in general) made up a regiment, with each company carrying a colour. As JimDuncanUK pointed out, one company would carry the 'Lifana' (normally white), with the others carrying 'Kompanifana' – company colours.

It's safe to say that for wargaming purposes, the major combatants – Saxony, Russia, Prussia, Denmark-Norway would follow the same basic structure. However, if you want to paint up a passel of Poles or a lot of Lithuanians – then you could add more flags – because the Poles/Lithuanians carried a lot of flags. The same can be said for the Ottomans.

Thanks for the info.

I need to know for Sweden and Russia. I read that Russian Companies had their own flags, so the same as Sweden.

I gave the Sovereign's color to my Saxon 1st battalion and the Regimental color to the 2nd battalion. May not be right but it looks good.

One flag per battalion makes sense and a bit cheaper too.

Some interesting info, thank you!

Most wargamers use 1 colour per battalion, although I think 2 colours look better.

Skeets – I do the same with my Swedish and Norwegian armies – it may not be 'historically accurate' but it is a hobby.

Regarding the GNW Russians – if you're raising a 'New' army – meaning the units are based on the European system and not Streltsi, then, I think 1 or 2 colours for battalion looks right – especially in 15mm or 10/6mm. If you're raising a GNW Russian army in 25mm/28mm – 1 colour looks great in a battalion of 12-18. If you're using 'big' battalions of 24 minis, then, you can use 2 colours.

Hope this helps. If you need any more info, drop me an email at:
jestarnes66@gmail.com
or pop another question here.

Happy gaming and Merry Christmas!

My Swedish regiments have the livfana and one company color for the first battalion and two company colors for the second battalion. I use the excellent Warfare Miniatures flags. The same principle for the Russians.