"British Indian Army Colours (flags) - 2nd Afghan War" Topic

Hi guys,

I am building a force for the 2nd Afghan War, loosely based on the troops present at Sharpur in December 1879. We know that the 2nd Afghan War was the last one where British battalions carried their colours into the field, so I plan to have the various battalions depicted with flags (because flags look so good on a battlefield).

While I am quite familiar with British colours, I am not at all familiar with colours for the regiments belonging to the Indian Army or the Punjab Frontier Force. So I would greatly appreciate any help on colours for the following units:

23rd Bengal Native Infantry (Sikh Pioneers)
3rd Sikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
5th Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
Queen's Own Corps of Guides, PFF (Infantry)

These are the 4 battalions I am planning to field and while I know that Indian troops also used 2 colours (queen's and regimental), I have no idea what the regimental colours looked like.

Also, did the Guides use colours ?

Any info regarding flags of the Afghan regular regiments (Herat or Kabul) would also be greatly appreciated, although that project is for a bit later.

Many Thanks,
Dan

Dan,

I'm busy with "real life" stuff at the moment but here's a link to some info I posted on similar topic last Fall:

TMP link

I don't think it covers any of the specific regiments you list from Sherpur, but if may still be of some use.

RE: the Guides… I wish I could give you a definitive answer, but I can't. I've been trying to find out for many years and all I can say is I have yet to come across any mention or visual evidence of a regimental flag for the infantry or cavalry components, other than one "presentation flag" that looked to me ike a late 20th century commemorative item. I will try to post it later when I get the chance.

Here's the Corps of Guides "Presentation Flag" I mentioned above: