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Normal British military practise is that the Queen's Colour of a regiment is
the Union with badge, whilst the Regimental Colour has a plain field with the
Union in its canton plus badge and battle honours, etc.
Christopher
Southworth, 26 May 2011
Here is a sample Guards Queen's Colour, in this case the current one carried
by 1st Battalion Welsh Guards:
http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/10988.aspx. It was presented in
2006, and will be carried for approximately 10 years.
T.F. Mills, 26
May 2011
Blue is the facing colour of "royal" regiments of the infantry of the line, and hence the field colour for their Regimental Colours. Royal status is a special honour and designated by the words "Royal" or "King's" or "Queen's" in their title (e.g. The Royal Welch Fusiliers, The King's Regiment). Guards regiments are de facto "royal" by virtue of their guards status, and thus have blue facings, but they never have a royal designation in their title. Yes, it's confusing and complicated.
Further complicating matters, Guards do not follow the same conventions as
infantry of the line in the design and nomenclature of their Colours. Most
commentators say that the Guards are the "reverse" of infantry practice with
regard to Queen's and Regimental Colours, but in actual fact it is the opposite
since the Guards follow a more ancient practice ~ or more precisely have evolved
differently. So, to make a long story short, Guards regiments have not carried
blue Queen's Colours, despite their royal status, since 1707. The Coldstream and
Scots Guards previously had blue colonel's Colours, but the Grenadier Guards had
had a crimson Colonel's Colour since 1660, and that became the norm for all
Guards regiments.
It is hard to generalize about the pre-1707, or even
pre-1747, era, since little is known. Until 1707 every company carried a colour
with insignia representing its Captain. The three field officers (colonel,
lieutenant-colonel, and major) who commanded three wings of the battalion, also
doubled as Captains of the three senior companies. In 1707 the number of colours
was reduced to three for the three wings or the three field officers. In 1747
this was further reduced to two, both representing the whole battalion rather
than individually representing wings. Guards, however, continued to be issued
Captains' Colours until 1838, although in practice only two were carried at the
same time. 1855 regulations intended for all regiments to carry a Regimental
Colour of appropriate facing hue, but the Guards appealed this. Queen Victoria
intervened and allowed the Queen's Colour to be crimson and the Second or
Regimental Colour to be the Grand Union or national flag. Since there were three
Guards regiments in 1855 (Irish and Welsh did not yet exist), and each had three
battalions, the individual battalions' Queen's Colours followed the previous
field officers' pattern, and were even still called that, i.e. 1st Battalion =
Colonel's Colour, 2nd Battalion = Lieutenant Colonel's Colour, and 3rd Battalion
= Major's Colour.
T.F. Mills, 26 May 2011
Honour guards and quarter guards (i.e. 80-man detachments as typically
provided for head of state State visits, Changing of the Guard at Buckingham
Palace, Trooping of the Colour, etc.) only carry one Colour. Which of the two
Colours is paraded is determined by the presence of the Sovereign: Queen's for
her presence, Regimental in her absence. By definition, I think a State visit
requires the presence of the monarch to attend the visiting head of state. I
think a visiting head of state gets a 100-man honour guard and a visiting head
of government a 50-man honour guard. Where they are one and the same (e.g.
United States), it is probably the nature of the visit that determines the
protocol. Only a full battalion parade (400-1000 men depending on the era)
would merit both Colours on parade.
Off the top of my head, I don't think
Queen Elizabeth has ever missed a Trooping of the Colour, which is the official
observance of her birthday (a Saturday in June, so selected for the better
chance of good weather). So, the Colour trooped is always the Queen's Colour. At
this event only one of the quarter guards carries a Colour, and that is the one
found by the Battalion which in annual rotation has the honour of trooping its
Colour before the monarch.
Several series of defence cutbacks since WW2
have reduced all five foot guards regiments to one battalion, but a
representative company of the 2nd Battalion of some regiments has been retained.
This permits a wider selection of Colours to be trooped in annual succession, as
well as a faster rotation of company badges to be displayed on the Regimental
Colour every ten years.
T.F. Mills, 27 May 2011
Called the 'Great Union' if I remember correctly, and commissioned by the
military (from the College of Arms) specifically for use on colours. David
Prothero will, however, be able to confirm this. The saltires of St Andrew and
St Patrick are of the same width with a fimbriation added as in the original of
the 1801 pattern Union Flag.
This Union forms the basis of the Queen's Colour, and the canton of the
Regimental Colour (except for Guards Regiments where the system is reversed),
and the regulation size was, and as far as I know still is, 3'.0" x 3'9"
Christopher Southworth, 24 February 2003
Martin's illustration shown at the top of this page is not of a flag as such,
but of a 'base', to which badges and battle honours can be added to construct
the Queen's colour of line regiment battalions, and the regimental colour of
Foot Guards.
Answering a question, asked in Parliament by Mr Dundas White on 20 May 1909,
Secretary of State at the War Office, R.B. Haldane said:
"The amended design for the Queen's (now King's) colour was approved by Her late Majesty Queen Victoria in 1900. All Queen's and King's colours issued since have been in conformity with the amended design. The previous design was in use since 1801. It was approved by Queen Victoria only as a standard, to govern dimensions of flag as represented in Queen's colour of line battalions and regimental colours of Foot Guards. The War Office has not adopted the design for any other purpose than that for which it was expressly sanctioned. The change was made on heraldic grounds in order to bring the Regimental Union into closer accord with the description of the Union Flag given in the Royal Proclamation of 1 Jan 1801, and at the same time to create a standard pattern for the colour."Dimensions.
As I understand it, every battalion in a regiment has its own Queen's colour
? But does each battalion also have a regimental colour, or is there only one
regimental colour per regiment?
David Prothero, 26 February 2003
Each battalion has a pair of colo(u)rs. In the line regiments--i.e., not
regiments of guards--which battalion the "regimental" colour belonged to was
formerly indicated by a union jack canton added to the same field (2nd
battalion), and a small pile wavy issuing from the lower fly corner of the
canton (in different colors for 3rd and succeeding battalions). The 1st
battalion of any regiment carried the basic regimental colour without a union
jack in the upper hoist. I believe that, in principle, the system now is for the
battalion number to be inscribed in Roman numerals in the upper hoist, but in
practice there are almost no color-bearing regiments in the British Army that
have more than one battalion.
The US Army system is similar--the regiment itself has a plain field with the
regimental coat of arms on the breast of an American eagle, while each
battalion's "regimental" color has the battalion number as an Arabic numeral,
surrounded by an ornate embroidered frame, in the upper hoist.
Joe McMillan, 26 February 2003
I think that should be two colours per battalion should it not Colin,
although most (if not all) British regiments nowadays are single battalion
regiments? However, some did carry three colours during the 18th Century, and
one (the 5th Regiment of Foot or Northumberland Fusiliers) continued to do so
until 1833. Interestingly enough, those regiments who were present at the Battle
of Assaye - Wellington's Indian campaign - (the 74th and 78th Highlands
certainly but also others) were granted the right to carry a third special
colour in 1802, and the privilege of carrying these in general use on parade was
only withdrawn in 1830, when they were to be reserved for special occasions.
The date upon which the number of colours were reduced to two per battalion
appears to be unknown. It is however, certain that a stand of 10 colours was not
unusual during the 1640's (the King's Royal Regiment of Foot Guards lost eleven
out of thirteen at the Battle of Edgehill during the English Civil War), and on
the evidence of the Blenheim tapestries we may reasonably infer that this number
had been considerably reduced (if not actually to only two) by the early 18th
Century (the War of the Spanish Succession)?
By the way if anybody is interested, a lot of the above is from a fascinating
little book (which has been mentioned before) "The
Flags of The World, Their History, Blazons and Associations", F. Edward
Hulme, London c1900.
Christopher Southworth, 26 October 2004
Two colours per battalion it is, and yes, most ordinary infantry regiments
are single battalion these days. As for the Guards, the Grenadier Guards have an
extra 'Royal Standard' [sic], the Coldstream Guards have two 'State Colours',
and the Scots Guards one 'State Colour'. The Irish and Welsh regiments do not
have any extra. Company colours are simply small marker flags.
As for the extra colours - the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers,
the descendants of the 5th Foot, still carry an extra flag, the 'Drummer's
Colour'. The Princess of Wales's Own Regiment also have a third colour inherited
from the Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment). The Assaye regiments (74th,
78th), and the 76th Foot, were given all the extra colours at the request of the
Hon. East India Company - the granting of colours or additional colours was a
common reward for gallant regiments with the HEIC at the time. The two that
Chris mentions do not carry the extra colours any more, but the Duke of
Wellington's Regiment (the old 76th) still does.
The restriction normally placed upon these extra colours is
they cannot be carried at the head of the regiment with the regulation pair
(although I've seen photos of the Duke's colours on parade in the 1960s). The
other Assaye regiment was the 19th Light Dragoons, which received a honorary
guidon. But the modern regiment (the Light Dragoons) does not carry one. On the
subject of names, the King's / Queen's Colour was called the Royal Colour
between 1844 and 1892.
When were the number of colours reduced to two per battalion? It was
definitely two from 1747. One colour per company (and therefore ten or twelve
per regiment) certainly was the 17th century practice. By the early 18th
century, this might have been reduced to carrying two or three in the field and
leaving the rest at home, but there were no regulations in this period, so it
was down to custom, rather than rules. The different practice in the Guards,
where the Queen's Colour is crimson, is a continuation of the 17th century
practice, where the colonel's colour was a plain colour, and the other companies
had more and more devices on them to indicate their junior status.
Ian Sumner, 27 October 2004
A 2-inch fringe was added in 1868, at the same time the size was reduced to
its current form. This applies to all King's/Queen's and Regimental Colour in
the Commonwealth.
Todd Mills, 22 July 2003
In the Guards Division, the Queen's Colours have a crimson background,
whereas in most of the rest of the British Army, they are based on a Union Flag
design (sometimes the Union Flag is known as the Great Union). Additionally, the
Coldstream Guards have two State Colours, as well as Queen's Colours, Regimental
Colours (and Company Colours).
Colin Dobson, 26 October 2004
In the early 18th century infantry colours still somewhat followed a pattern prevalent in the English Civil War and earlier. A regiment would typically deploy in three wings under the command of its three senior officers, the colonel, lieutenant colonel and major. The captains of the ten companies (four with the colonel and three each with the other field officers) also had their own flags. The colonel's colour was usually a plain flag in the facing colour of the regiment's uniform. After the 1660 restoration of the monarchy, colonels grew in power and influence to the point that they owned their regiments, and tended to put personal symbols on their flags. All the other officers added a small St George's cross in the canton. By 1707 this cross had been transformed into the whole flag, leaving only the colonel's flag in the facing colour. The various officers were distinguished as follows:
In 1707, the St George's Cross was joined by the St Andrew's Cross, and at the same time the captains' colours were eliminated, leaving only three ensigns for the three field officers (one plain flag, and two Union flags). In 1747 this system was completely reversed and replaced by what pretty much prevails to this day: two colours per battalion, the first being the king's colour (Union flag), and the second being the regimental colour in the facing colour with a Union in the canton. Regiments with red or white facings carried a St George's Cross with the Union in the canton, and black facings were represented by a St George's Cross on a black field. Also in 1747, colonels were prohibited from putting personal devices on their colours.
To this day the guards regiments have pretty much failed to comply with the 1707 and 1747 reforms, and continue some semblance of the protocol of the 17th century. Every company continued to carry its own colour until they were finally abolished in 1838, but from about 1747 guards battalions carried only two of the colours in battle. These two colours are called the opposite of what the rest of the army calls them: the Union flag is the regimental colour, and a crimson flag is the king's/queen's colour. Until recently most of the guards regiments had three battalions. The 1st battalion had a plain crimson flag, 2nd battalion was distinguished with a Union in the canton (17th-century lieutenant-colonel style), and 3rd battalion was distinguished with a Union and a pile wavy (17th-century major style).
With the abolition of company colours in 1838 a system of company badge rotation on the remaining two colours was established. Battalion colours are renewed approximately every ten years, and all the battalions of the regiment receive a new stand at the same time. A hypothetical scenario: if in 1900 the 1st to 3rd battalions carried on their colours the 11th to 13th company badges respectively, then in 1910 these would be replaced by the 14th company for 1st battalion, 15th company for 2nd battalion, and 16th company for 3rd battalion. The five guards regiments now consist of one battalion each, which presumably will drag out the company badge rotation for a much longer time.
T.F. Mills, 2 February 1999
Since there are no known surviving colours of English line regiments, either as actual flags or as drawings, from the reign of Queen Anne, it is impossible to state that with any degree of certainty what they were like. Some colours are known from William III's reign, largely from French captures. Where there are sufficient numbers from a single regiment, it would seem that the captains' colours were identical - St George with a regimental device. But only two regiments are involved, the 3rd and the 12th Foot, so it is difficult to generalise. The system of one device for the 1st captain, two for the 2nd captain etc., only just predates the Civil War. It was probably in use during the Bishops' War (1639-40) but not during the 16th century. That system had fallen out of use in the guards regiments by 1700 (with the use of company badges), and in line regiments by the reign of William III.
Ian Sumner, 3 February 1999
I am sending a drawing of the 9th Foot regimental colour which was presented c. 1757. This is based on an almost identical illustration in John Mollo's Uniforms of the American Revolution and the central device is identical to a black and white one in Dino Lemonifides's British Infantry Colours shown as an example of the rococo style (i.e. lopsided and asymmetrical wreath) prevalent in the 1760s. This colour is erroneously portrayed as current during the 1770s, but in fact it was replaced before the American revolution (1772) by another with a different style wreath, for which I also send a drawing. This is illustrated in Terence Wise's Military Flags of the World in Colour. This style would appear to be an intermediate phase between the asymmetrical rococo and the 1780s symmetrical-style wreath enclosing the regimental number on a shield. For good measure I am also sending the regimental colour of the 9th Foot c. 1807 since it also appears in the Lemonofides book. This includes the regiment's new badge of the figure of Britannia, and yet another style of wreath.
T.F. Mills 6 February 1999
The 5th Regiment of Foot had a Regimental Colours in gosling green. The Union Flag was in the canton with a Roman numeral "V" in the centre. The three other corners had a crowned rose. The central device on the Colour was St George in white armour on a brown horse lancing a green dragon. This device may have been surrounded by a baroque style Union Wreath.
T.F. Mills, 2 April 2001
The British Regimental flag from the of the 9th infantry regiment during the American Revolution is supposedly still in existence at Sandhurst yet I have found 3 very different illustrations of it:
I know from the warrants of this period that all Roman numerals are supposed to
be either painted or embroidered in gold. However, since the field is yellow, I
can see why they used black to make the numbers show up better. Also, concerning
the first color in example 3, the warrant states that all colors are to have the
wreath and Roman numerals but this is the only example I have seen where the
Grand Union has the wreath. All other examples simply have the Roman numerals.
So, for a flag that supposedly is still extant, there is a bewildering variety
of representations! What does the example at Sandhurst actually look like?
Fred Sura, 4 April 2003
For the flags of the 9th Foot:
You are right about gold being used for the regimental number. I think the black
numerals are either a mistake by the artist, or they are intended to represent
tarnished gold wire, with a black appearance. There are several photos of the
centres of the colours in S.M. Milne's 'Standards and Colour of the Army'
(Leeds, the Author, 1891), plate XIII. In the text, he states that there are
several stands of the regiment's colours in the chapel at Sandhurst.
Ian Sumner, 4 April 2003
At
http://hiwaay.net/~hfears/com_1/com_1.htm is a painting, The Death of
Major Pierson by John Singleton Copley, showing a pre-1808 union jack and a
yellow flag (image at
http://hiwaay.net/~hfears//photos//battljer.jpg).
António Martins-Tuválkin, 6 January 2006
I think the colours are that of the 95th - that was Pierson's regiment,
certainly. It was disbanded at the end of the war, and so it is not listed in
any of the major sets of regulations, so I can't say what its facings were for
sure. The 72nd may also have had yellow facings, but they were highlanders, and
wore the kilt, which none of the colour party appear to be doing (there is an
officer of the 72nd, however, lying wounded in the lower left hand corner). The
other possibility is that the colours belong to one of the regiments of Jersey
Militia. There is an article on the painting in volume 2 of the Journal of the
Society for Army Historical Research.
Ian Sumner, 7 January 2006
A good overview over the various British regiments and their uniforms can be
found at http://www.regiments.org, e.g.
http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/073-786.htm in the case of the
case of the 73rd regiment. The colours of the facings were used as the base
colour of the
regiments colour.
Dirk Schonberger, 8 January 2005
images by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 November 2019
I spotted these in a restaurant in Carmarthen in 2014. And I believe they are
images of real British military colours, no artwork. The top image probably
shows a King's Colour of the Regiment, red with golden dragon and motto "CYMRU
AM BYTH" (= Wales forever). The lower image shows one of nine older rounded
pennants, probably referring to the same regiment. There were nine of those
pennants, only different in the Welsh motto and in the arms at hoist. And there
was also probably a newer regimental colour, having a yellow shield with a red
lion in centre and a red number "V" in a yellow scroll beneath.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 November 2019
The top image is a Queen's Colour of 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards, from the
1960-80 period. It contains Second World War battle honours, but not the 1982
Falkland Islands battle honour.
The lower image is the "Company Colour"
of No. 9 Company, Welsh Guards. They are quite small, about 70 cm. long. Google
search "Welsh Guards" "company colour", and I think you will find images for
companies 1, 3, 8 and 9 (which are, I think, the remaining extant companies.)
Both of these images are official water-colour prints of the real flags.
T.F. Mills, 11 November 2019
image by Ian Sumner, 11 November 2019
[Click on image for larger
version]
Here also is a plate depicting the standards of 1-4 Companies. The arms in
the hoist are different for each company, and are those attributed to various
Welsh kings and princes. The fly of each flag is the same, except for the
company number in Roman numerals and motto.
Ian Sumner, 11 November
2019