ENGLISH CIVIL WAR
 

 
COLORS OF THE ROYALIST FOOT
 

Images Added September 2012

Swallowtailed Royal Banner
 

 

THE ROYAL BANNER OF KING CHARLES I

 

 

A banner of the Royal Arms of England marked the King's position on the battlefield. The arms in this form date from the accession of the first Stuart monarch, James VI of Scotland, as James I of England in 1603. They display the arms of the Tudor monarchs (France and England quarterly) in the first and fourth quarters, Scotland in the second quarter, and Ireland in the third quarter. Such heraldic banners were usually made square or rectangular, though a variant royal banner with red swallowtails is also depicted in contemporary illustrations.


KING'S LIFEGUARD OF FOOTE

 

Colonel's Company

 

Lieutenant-Colonel's Company

 

Major's Company

 

First Captain's Company

 

Second Captain's Company

 

Third Captain's Company
 

Fourth Captain's Company

  

Fifth Captain's Company

Befitting its special status, the King's Lifeguard of Foot carried colors of distinctive design. Instead of occupying a small canton, the Cross of St. George took up the whole hoist of each color, while the fly portion displayed various royal badges to difference the companies. The dragon on the lieutenant-colonel's color was for Wales. The badge for captains' companies was the floral badge of England, a crowned Tudor rose. The regiment's uniforms were madder red rather than scarlet.

THE DUKE OF YORK'S REGIMENT OF FOOTE

 

Colonel's Company

 

Lieutenant-Colonel's Company

 

Major's Company
 

First Captain's Company

  

Second Captain's Company

  

Third Captain's Company
 

APSLEY'S REGIMENT OF FOOTE

 

Colonel's Company

 

Lieutenant-Colonel's Company

 

Major's Company
 

First Captain's Company

  

Second Captain's Company

  

Third Captain's Company

The captains' companies of some Royalist regiments had colors with diagonal field divisions. This system was probably adopted to help distinguish between Royalist and Parliamentary units on the battlefield.

BARD'S REGIMENT OF FOOTE

 

Colonel's Company

 

Lieutenant-Colonel's Company

 

Major's Company
 

First Captain's Company

  

Second Captain's Company

  

Third Captain's Company

Sir Henry Bard used the principal charge from his coat of arms to difference the colors of his regiment.

HOPTON'S REGIMENT OF FOOTE

 

Colonel's Company

 

Lieutenant-Colonel's Company

 

Major's Company
 

First Captain's Company

  

Second Captain's Company

  

Third Captain's Company

This was one of the regiments whose Major's Color bore a single device rather than a stream blazant. Thus the First Captain's Color bore two devices.


STRADLING'S REGIMENT OF FOOTE

 

Colonel's Company

 

Lieutenant-Colonel's Company

 

Major's Company

 

First Captain's Company

 

Second Captain's Company

 

Third Captain's Company

This regiment's colors followed the standard system, with a stream blazant for the Major's Color and devices for the captains' colors.


TALBOT'S REGIMENT OF FOOTE

 

Colonel's Company

 

Lieutenant-Colonel's Company

 

Major's Company
 

First Captain's Company

  

Second Captain's Company

  

Third Captain's Company

This was another regiment whose Major's Color bore a single device in place of a stream blazant. The device is the "talbot-hound," the heraldic badge of the Talbot family.

BACK to ENGLISH CIVIL WAR Page