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British Infantry Colours circa 1815 |
| British Infantry battalions each carried two colours, the King's Colour and the Regimental Colour. These standards measured 6 foot 6 inches by 6 foot or approx 198 x 183 cm. |
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1st
BATTALION,
1st FOOT GUARDS. Note that Guards Units do not have the National Flag (Union Jack) as a Royal Colour. They use it as Regimental Colours which they call Company Colours |
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4th REGIMENT OF FOOT (THE KING'S OWN REGIMENT)
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32nd REGIMENT OF FOOT
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35th REGIMENT OF FOOT (SUSSEX REGIMENT)
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42nd REGIMENT OF FOOT (THE ROYAL HIGHLAND REGIMENT)
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52nd REGIMENT OF FOOT (OXFORDSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY)
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64th REGIMENT OF FOOT (2nd STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT)
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79th REGIMENT OF FOOT (CAMERON HIGHLANDERS)
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| First or Royal Colours | Regimental Colours |
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After 1800, British infantry colours were based on the second pattern of the Union Flag (with the Cross of St. Patrick placed over the Cross of St. Andrew). Otherwise, the previous system was continued, with each regiment carrying a King's Colour and a Regimental Colour, the latter with a field in the regimental facing colour. As before, regiments with white, grey or black facings had a Regimental Colour with the Cross of St. George throughout on a white field for white or grey facings and on a black field for black facings. All royal regiments had dark blue facings. The union wreath now included shamrocks for Ireland. Most regiments' colours had a scarlet, gold-edged shield bearing the regiment's number in gold Roman numerals within the wreath. There were variations, however, especially in the case of Royal regiments whose colours sometimes displayed the crowned Royal Cypher. The shape of the shield also varied, as illustrated for the 52nd and 79th Foot. As the years of war wore on, battle honours were added to the colours, sometimes in the form of badges such as the sphinx (for service in Egypt) and sometimes as inscriptions or scrolls. Battalions of Guards Regiments continued to carry a King's Colour and Company Colours. The former was scarlet, with or without a canton of the Union Flag, and bore regimental devices. The latter were Union Flags with company badges and Roman numerals indicating the number of the company. Usually a Guards battalion would carry only one of its several Company Colours in the field. Images and information from Alan Pendlebury's Napoleonic War Flags site. |
