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Date	Original Topic
19th April 2003	Why were they red coats? By J. Walters Im curious? Why did the British have red coats? The flag you Brits have is mostly blue. Is it because us americans stole the blue color first. But our flag is mostly red. Im confused? Can anyone shine a flashlight on this? I J. Walters
Date	Replies
19th April 2003	Glenn Wade Hello J Walters. The colour of coats has nothing to do with the flag of your nation. British regiments wore red coats since Oliver Cromwell formed the New Model Army during the English Cilvil War (I think I'm right but would someone correct me if I'm wrong). Sadly Great Britain has a much longer history than the USA and Our flag has been that way since the early 1600s when James the first created the act of union between England and Scotland. The Cross of St George and the Cross of St Andrew. The diagonal red lines is the cross of St Patrick added in 1801. Regards Glenn Wade
19th April 2003	Glenn Wade I just better creep in before someone else does! I am in no way anti-American and when I stated that Britain has a longer history than the US I meant Documented history. Regards Glenn
20th April 2003	Trevor Finney Glenn. Never thought your reply was anti-American! But "UP THE BRITS"
21st April 2003	Joe soz glenn but i didnt want to know when they started wearing red coats but WHY THEY WORE THEM!!!! I J. Walters
22nd April 2003	Miguel In the days of the black powder, generals needed their troops in brightly colored uniforms so they could see them in the smoke-filled battlefields. White (Spain, France) and Blue (Hessians) were also colours of choice. The use of greys, cackies and dark greens to blend with the terrain dates back from as recently as WWI.
22nd April 2003	Alex Rossiter I think (not sure?) origanly the british army wanted blue , but blue is a costly dye and also it would have had to have been imported where as red was cheaper and the dye could be made in england.. I think royal regiments had mainly blue facings and some even had blue trousers?
22nd April 2003	Des The British wear red, the French Blue and the Russians green those are the simplifications "imposed" upon us by the film industry. The fact is that you cpould find soldiers dressed in red in the french army of the 18th and nienteenth century. Britsh "sharpshooters" wore green. But red was a special colour very often worn by guard regiments. The smoke on the battlefoedly also made necessayr conspicuous colours and perhaps that also was the reason why some ofices and ncos wehre issued polearms in the 18th/early nineteenth century: They served as sopme kind of fieldsign. Interesting fact: in the 19th century Briitsh and French officers very often wore black uniforms distinguishing them sharply from their men (you can see that on contemporarypaintings about the Indian campigns) Was that a wise decision?
25th April 2003	sally Once heard that it was red to hide the blood from wound !!
26th April 2003	richard i was told that the reason for red was that its a striking colour on the battlefield and gives a better presence. probably something to do with psychology! another point about red tunics is that the mounties wear red for two reasons, one is that it was cheaper than blue and secondly in border areas it meant they didnt look like the us army, handy when dealing with the indians. as a final point when did the british army start wearing blue?
28th April 2003	Adrian Whiting Joe, Alex is right I believe, Cromwell's New Model Army found that the most easily (cheaply) procured colourfast dye available was red, and this was the only colour available in the quantity needed for the right price ! Until the mid Victorian period the army jacket was red, with only officers and sergeants wearing the much brighter scarlet. This was then altered so that all ranks wore scarlet, as seen in the present day in certain full dress uniforms. Blue uniforms date from the same period, and earlier. They were retained by somecavalry regiments, the Royal Regt of Artillery and certain of the various corps.
28th May 2004	Sue hi
18th June 2004	robert haggan we (the british) wore red coat 4 a number of reasons. 1because it was the colur the the new morder amry wore. 2 and quite simply to hide the blood
21st June 2004	steve in the psyche,red is perhaps the colour subconciously seen as dangerous ,ie:red is the colour of danger..... red rag to a bull.........i saw red......etc .....consider roman legionaries and their red capes,the cape of a matador,in medieval and pre history,red ,the usual colour of death................and red the colour of lifes blood.......... colour plays on the psyche..........consider the roman praetorian guard,bluchers prussians,and himmlers ss..........black as night.......pitiless. and then the fashion aspect,yes fashion,beau brummel instrumental in dress sense for the early 19th century,and prior to that,a soldier needs to look smart ,fashionable in society,and as for my hero cromwell,an army needs to be uniform and distiguishable,a very practical chap. all the same,i think you have it ,red.......easy to see on the battlefield,in smoke,or in foliage,or in the half light of a dusk or dawn, and concealing the wounds of a soldier from his comrades,when steadfastness is required,trouble is it works both ways as our chaps found out at yorktown(up the rebels) and at isandlwhana where red coated soldiers were specifically targeted for destruction by cetswayo. in the past colours in war distinguished,you as different,a class apart,special,elite,this is part of creating the elan and spirit of an army, whether that be a blue crane feather or a couple of runic lightning bolts. regards
6th January 2005	Ron Clayton Hello Joe from the states. Its a funny thing this wearing of red by the British Army.In the early days of our Civil War[bit different from your set to] King and Parliament armies would wear red and orange sashes.Red is the British Labour Party [bit like your Democrats but dafter] colour which makes it rather odd that red been our martial colour when Labour appears not to be pro the armed services[odder still when its a fox huntsmans colour].We British like red ie Telephone and Post Boxes. I think the last time we wore red in Battle was Laings Nelk in 1881 when the Boers were unsporting enough to shoot at us and not listen to our Band.Can anybody confirm this.? All the best Joe. Ron