"Rare French 2nd Imperial Guard Grenadier Flag Question" Topic

I've been doing some heavy research into Napoleon's Guard, and in the book "The Anatomy of Glory: Napoleon and His Guard" by Henri Lachouque and Anne S K Brown, I came across this watercolor uniform plate by Eugene Lami. imgur.com/gp0G5q0

What's odd is that it's a plate of the 2nd Foot Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, with the standard flag design of 1804-1811, yet it has battle honors of "Marengo, Austerlitz, Wagram, and Moskowa" if you look closely, instead of the standard "Valeur et Discipline". I know that the Battle Honors were not placed onto the flags until the 1812 pattern, so this is very unusual. Additionally, there appear to be the in the blue and red corners golden bees, one of Napoleon's symbols.

Does anyone have information on this flag? I've never seen any reference to it whatsoever, I've been trying to look at as many sources as I can and this is the only time I've come across one like this.

As you say, not a recognised pattern and certainly not one that I have seen anywhere else though I am familiar with this print.

A picture from this period could suffer from a number of problems. Primarily it would be a commercial production made to look as inspiring and attractive as possible. It would not be a 'historical record' made to record the details accurately. The artist could simply be ignorant of the facts. He could have picked up a few details and added them all together inaccurately but accidently. Or this could be deliberate artistic licence to emphasise the unit's campaign history by conflating the two designs.

Sign of the times really.

There is a useful collection of Lami's works here:
link

The descriptions are not all accurate. See this pair: the right hand figure is quite obviously a grenadier a cheval, though described as a dragoon:
link

Can you identify the date of the painting you describe?

Here is the original watercolor :
link

The watercolor was exectued in 1817, when finding flags of Napoléon for a model to hold might have been difficult.

The work is attributed to Eugène Louis Lami, but signed just "Eugène". I am not so sure : the young Lami would seem to have a different style and signature, compared to his mature works.

In 1817, Lami was a 17-year old assistant to Carle and Horace Vernet, and they were preparing a set of 100 lithographs "Collections des uniformes des armées françaises de 1791 à 1814", which was published in 1821.
link

The original watercolor has no known original title. It appears to have been aqcuired by the Brown collection from a New York print dealer in 1949, along with other 19th century European works.

The attribution "2nd Foot Grenadiers" is not consistent in the various editions of the Lachouque. "1st Grenadiers" and explanation about the flag's design can also be found :
link

The editions of the Lachouque as far as I know ….
English, translated by Anne S. K. Brown :
--- 1st Edition : 1961 Providence, Brown University Press & London, Lund Humphries
--- 2nd Edition : 1962 Providence, Brown University Press & London, Lund Humphries
--- 3rd Edition : 1978 New York, Hippocrene Books & London, Arms and Armour Press
--- 4th Edition : 1997 Pennsylvania, Stackpole Books & London, Greenhill Books & Singapore : MRM Graphics Limited
--- 5th Edition : 2017 London, Frontline Books
French :
--- 1st Edition : 1945 Paris, self-published
--- 2nd Edition : 1956/1957 Paris, Bloud et Gay & Tournai, Desclée
--- 3rd Edition : 1982 Paris, Lavauzelle