“=Coldstream Guards.=—His Majesty did then also direct that the alterations following should be made in the ensigns of this his second regiment of Foot Guards, that they might be more agreeable to the colours of the first regiment; for, excepting the colonel’s ensign, which was purely of white taffeta, the other eleven were charged with crosses of crimson taffeta throughout. The lieutenant-colonel’s, without distinction. The major’s had a pile-wavy. The cross of the eldest captain was charged on the centre with the figure I. in white, ensigned with an imperial crown of gold painted thereon; the second with II., the third with III., the fourth, IV., and so forward to the ninth captain who was distinguished by IX., each of them under an imperial crown of gold. And thus did these ensigns fly at the coronation.”
With the help of Sandford’s description, and a series of coloured plates, which may be seen in the library at Windsor, we are able to get a very correct impression of the Army colours of this period. Generally speaking, they were remarkable for their brilliant colouring, their fanciful fabric, their lack of similarity one with another, and their show of private as opposed to royal badges. In this latter connection, the colours of James showed a clear harking back to the pre-Reformation days. Our first figure, on Plate I., reveals an attractive colour of the period; it represents the standard of the Second Troop of Horse Guards, date about 1687. The angels which support the large central crown were taken from a popular French device, whilst the three small crowns placed near the lower edge, refer to the King’s claim to the crowns of England, Ireland and France. The central cypher, it may be well to point out, is not F.R. but J.R. The second illustration reveals the Earl of Shrewsbury’s rampant lion on a yellow field. There is a difference of opinion as to whether the background should not be lightish buff, but the Windsor plates certainly favour the colour as given in Fig. 2. The flag is the colonel’s standard of Shrewsbury’s Regiment of Horse (now the =5th Dragoon Guards=).
We have hinted that this was an era of much decoration, but to this rule there is one outstanding exception—we refer to the =Scots Guards=. In this case, the colonel’s colour was plain white, a favourite flag of earlier times. The lieutenant-colonel’s was the national flag of Scotland, a white St. Andrew’s Cross on a blue field. The major’s was the same, but with a pile-wavy issuing from the upper corner of the cross, and the captain’s as the lieutenant-colonel’s, but with a silver numeral placed on the uppermost blue triangle. All were provided with silver and blue tassels, and a silver spear surmounted the pole, emblems which served to distinguish the flags of the Scots Guards from the national flags which were current at that time.