Regimental Colors Flags American War of Independence flags Review by Marc Raiff

Colorful flags are one of the appeals of fielding our miniature armies on the tabletop. This is especially true (at least for me) in the horse and musket period. The brilliant colors of the uniforms is enhanced or complemented by the color of the unit's flags. Finding appropriate flags for your troops without going through the agony of hand painting (am I betraying my age here?) is becoming an easier task with the advent of a number of small companies producing flags for the gamer. One such company is Regimental Colors. We have received 4 samples of 15mm flags from their American War of Independence range. The sheets each contain 8-9 flags with each flag measuring about 1/2" by 5/8" (one side), a good size for 15mm. The flags are well printed on good quality paper and need only be cut out and affixed to the staff with white glue. The detail is well executed especially for this scale. Although I have not used them yet, the flag stock appears heavy and durable enough to withstand some creasing to give it the more striking appearance of rippling in the breeze (Ok for that striking look, gale). An interesting feature is the provision on each sheet of several of the flags in both pristine and tattered condition. The tattering consist of ragged edges only. Musket ball holes must be "supplied" by the purchaser. The sheets received were not numbered but each flag is appropriately labeled. The sheets' contents consist of the following (in no particular order): 1) Franklin & Adams flag (both whole and tattered), a New Hampshire regimental flag from the 1779 Sullivan expedition (both whole and tattered), a New Jersey regimental flag also from the 1779 Sullivan expedition (both whole and tattered), the standard borne by the Serapis after its capture (both whole and tattered), and the standard borne by the Alliance (whole only). 2) The American Gostelowe Standards #1 through #5. Standards #1 through #4 have both whole and tattered versions while #5 has just the whole version. 3) The American Gostelowe Standards #10 through #13. Each standard has both whole and tattered versions. 4) British Standards for the 42nd Foot, the Black Watch. The sheet contains a King's colours in pristine condition and a regimental colour in both whole and tattered condition for three periods. The first is for pre-1758 French and Indian War and has a buff regimental colour. The second set covers post-1758 through the AWI and has the blue regimental colour (the Black Watch became a royal regiment in 1758). Supplementing these six standards are a King's colour and two regimental colours (one whole and one tattered) for the Napoleonic period. The American flag sets seem to be drawn straight from the plates in Standards and Colors of the American Revolution, Edward W. Richardson, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982. The color reproduction matches the book plates well. The so-called Franklin and Adams flag derives from a description of the national color in a letter to the Ambassador of the King of the Two Sicilies and may only have been carried by naval vessels. This is not confirmed. The New Hampshire and New Jersey colors are derived from an order of battle drawing of Sullivan's expedition against the Iroquois in 1779. These colors are shown with the brigades provided by each state (as well as a third from New York). Finally, the Gostelowe Standards were a series of flags as described in a "return" of arms and stores in Philadelphia prepared by Major Jonathan Gostelowe in the summer of 1778. What is not clear is which units of the Continental Army, if any, were issued with these standards. My only minor criticism of these sheets lies in the choice of subjects and their combination on these sheets. The naval colors should have their own sheet filling it out perhaps with the rattlesnake ensign of the South Carolina ships or any other ensigns. The New Hampshire and New Jersey flags would be better combined with other Continental unit flags. The British sheet combines flags from three periods which, if the gamer is only into one of them, results in a fair amount of wastage. Finally, the choice of the Gostelowe Standards, while exceedingly colorful, is somewhat marred by the lack of any affiliation with a specific regiment. There are many regimental colors which should see the light of day first. Regimental Colors production standards are excellent. I encourage them to continue their fine production effort with other AWI subjects (Massachusetts regimental colors, please!) and look forward to further products from this company. Regimental Colours Flags: American Revolution and 7YW Prussian Cavalry Flags (slow: 146K). Contact: Craig Martelle: gauntlet2@hotmail.com Back to Historical Game Review List Back to Master Game Review List Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com