Flags, Flags and More Flags --

I am recycling some old posts as an update on flags for units. These posts were originally posted here in the Spring and Summer of 2007.

As a clue to my Saxe-Bearstein 'theory' of flags, please examine the flag to the left.

It is a flag for Artillery (and, no, I don't actually use it in practice although I might add it to a limber some time).

The gray color of the 'rays' indicates that the uniform coat of the unit is gray. The red 'cross' indicates that the 'facing color' is red. The white leaves and central oval, etc. let me know that the button and hat tape color is white. And, of course, the red bear is the symbol of Saxe-Bearstein.

Careful readers will also note that the white 'ray borders' are wider than on the older flags shown below . . . that is because practice made them more visible with the wider pattern.

Now, without further ado, those 'old posts':


My Use of Flags --

(originally posted on April 2, 2007)

Regular readers of this blog know that I am working on a set of mid-eighteenth century rules ("Tricorne Wars") for use by our local club in its "Wars for Arcadian Glory" fictional campaign.

In "Tricorne Wars", flags are not placed on the "command stand"; but on their own "colour stand", which is used to indicate the unit's current condition.

For mounted troops, I will simply use a single mounted figure with the unit's standard . . . but for infantry, the situation is more complex.

Beside the regular "line infantry", I will also (potentially) have converged grenadiers, irregular troops and skirmish troops.

Regular troops will have two flags. The unit flag (such as the one with the light blue cross) and the national standard (the red bear on gold).

Converged grenadiers (who historically did not carry a flag) will only have a "national standard". Contrasting with this, irregular units (such as Grenzers) and skirmishing foot (jagers) will only carry a "unit flag" (such as the one pictured in green and gold).

By the way, for those interested in my flags, the background color of the oval (as well as the leaves and ray borders) are in the unit's hat tape color; the diagonal "rays" are in the coat color; and the "cross" is in the unit's cuff color.

Thus only the "line infantry" will have two flags. . . . . at least, that's the current plan.


Basic Infantry Flag Templates --

(originally posted on June 16, 2007)

You are all free to use these templates if you would like. Certainly change the colors to whatever you want . . . after all, I'm sure that your country won't want to use these without a few changes.

All of these (as well as the cavalry flag templates I'll upload in a few days) are in 16-color ".gif" format. You are certainly encouraged to change these colors (easy to do in most graphics programs) .

The two "German" patterns (as well as one of the "French" ones) have a central oval.

What I would suggest is that you find an image that represents your fictional nation (Saxe-Bearstein, for instance, uses a red bear). Some countries used animals such as lions, horses, eagles, etc., while others used the monarch's cipher. Use what you want and 'paste' it in.

Often, with the "German" style flags, there was something in the corners . . . often a crown or cipher (Saxe-Bearstein uses grape leaves). Sometimes there was something on the ends of the "cross", such as grenades. Use or not, it is your choice.

For Saxe-Bearstein (which uses a slight variation of the German-style with upright oval), I use the 'corner-rays' in the infantry coat color (red for line; green for jagers), while the cross is in the unit's facing color (various). The color of the central oval is the same as the 'hat tape" color (usually white or yellow . . . and black if there's no hat tape).

The "French" style (simple central cross) was actually used by others besides the French. France used a white central cross; England a red cross. Use whatever color you want.

The final template is sort of a hybrid. It uses the French-style cross, but I've added a central oval to take your national symbol.

Of course, once you've got your flags designed the way you want, you will have to "mirror" them so that you can print them and fold them around your flagstaffs. And don't forget to leave a bit of 'blank area' between the two halves for the 'wrap-around'.

And, of course, these templates are too big. You will need to reduce the size . . . and will probably want to copy them to a more easily scalable format . . . but these should do fine for your design work . . . and, of course, they post to the net very easily.

So I encourage you to have fun and again, feel free to play around with these templates.

If you like, post the results on your blogs . . . indeed, I encourage you . . . once you've got something you are happy with . . . to use them as your "photograph" (aka "avatar") if you don't already have something. Flags look great when you leave a comment on someone else's blog.

Have fun!


Dragoon and Cavalry Flag Templates

(originally posted on July 19, 2007)

While I'm still rather zonked on pain meds, I won't try to discuss some of the changes in "Tricorne Wars" that this last playtest has prompted, I think that I can post a few flag templates for mounted troops.

As with the Infantry flag templates which I posted on June 16th, I urge you to come up with something to grace the central ovals and Heavy Cavalry blanks.

This could be an heraldic animal such as lion, eagle, unicorn, dragon, wolf, etc. . . . or it could be the ruler's stylized initials . . . or whatever as long as it has significance for your imaginary nation.

Dragoon standards were almost always "swallow-tailed". I offer you three variations. The first (at the top of this post) is a quasi-French style. The next two are more Germanic and allow for either a tall or wide oval theme.

Note that Dragoon standards frequently had two different colors in the field . . . one of which was typically the unit's "facing color". The other color might be white or a "national color" or something that just went well with the facing color.

Both Dragoon and Cavalry standards were both quite often "fringed". This fringe was very typically in the same metal as the unit's "button color".

Finally, while fairly boring, the final flag was typical for true cavalry. A small fringed flag that typically had only one color on its field, the central device might or might not be contained within an oval.

You are free to use (and abuse) these very basic templates as much as you like.

You might also wish to visit "Warflag.com" to get more ideas. Here's a link:

http://www.warflag.com/flags/select.shtml


-- Jeff