BRITISH INFANTRY COLORS

LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

By the close of the seventeenth century, the British Army had settled into the form that would become familiar on the European battlefields of the next one hundred years. The foot regiments were dressed in red coats and had laid aside their pikes in favor of flintlock muskets. Regiments were still raised on the authority of royal warrants granted to prospective colonels; this document, which came with a fixed sum of money, authorized them to recruit, clothe, equip and arm the necessary soldiers. Legally the regiment was the property of the colonel and it was accepted that any money left over after the needs of the regiment had been met could be pocketed by him. This naturally led to abuses. Some colonels treated their regiments as cash cows, spending as little as possible so as to maximize their profits. Others, especially great magnates like the Duke of Norfolk, regarded their regiments as showpieces and spent lavishly out of their own purses on fancy uniforms and superior equipment. There was no single regulation governing the uniforms of the Army, so colonels who cared to spend the money were free to dress their men as they pleased. Since England and Scotland were still two distinct kingdoms united under a single crown, no British Army as such legally existed; the English and Scottish military establishments were entirely separate. During King William III's reign, there were also a number of Dutch regiments stationed in England, including the Blue Guards at Whitehall. The Lord High Admiral's Regiment was the ancestor of the Royal Marines. The colors of the English foot regiments were mostly based on the Cross of St. George, the patron saint of England, with a field in the distinguishing or facing color of the regiment. Each company was still provided with its own color but by the 1680s most regiments took the field with just three or four: those of the colonel's, the lieutenant-colonel's, the major's  and (sometimes) the first captain's companies. The colors were disposed to mark the center and wings of the regiment when it was deployed in line. Company colors usually resembled the lieutenant colonel's color with a Roman numeral to identify the company. From the 1670's onward the company colors of the English foot guards bore the special devices granted by the sovereign. James II, however, decreed that the 1st Foot Guard's company colors should all bear his crowned royal cypher, the number of which on the color corresponded to the number of the company. When William III ascended the throne he restored the traditional company badges. Both systems are depicted below. The Royal Standard of the 1st Foot Guards was paraded only in the presence of the sovereign. For foot regiments of the line the colonel's color was usually plain, though occasionally it bore the colonel's heraldic badge or a royal device. The lieutenant-colonel's color bore the Cross of St. George and the major's color was the same with the addition of a "stream blazant" issuing from the upper hoist. The colors of Scottish foot regiments followed the same basic pattern, but the Cross of Sr. Andrew (blue field, white diagonal cross) replaced the Cross of St. George. The system was not completely standardized, however. Some regiments had a colonel's color with the Cross of St. George, and occasionally different devices were used for the major's color. Many of these late seventeenth-century colors remained in service until 1707 when the Union Flag replaced the Cross of St. George. Colors were about six feet square, made of silk, with the insignia painted on. Note on the Illustrations: For each regiment, the Colonel's, Lieutenant-Colonel's and Major's Colours are depicted (left to right). For the foot guards, company colors are additionally depicted. See also Marlborough's Army. Images Added February 2019 Coldstream Guards (Reign of Charles II)  •  The Lord High Admiral's Regiment

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