Standards/Banners/Colors IX. [Conclusion]

This is coolbert:

"Wrap yourself in the flag!!" In modern parlance, a snide and pejorative phrase applied to persons who exhibit excessive patriotic zeal, often of a knee-jerk, reflexive nature. Such persons are often portrayed as having the nature of a buffoon, unthinking and pre-historic.

Here is an instance of a soldier that ACTUALLY DID WRAP HIMSELF IN THE FLAG!! Saving the colors from capture by the enemy. NOT during the Zulu Wars. NOT during the American Civil War or the wars of the Napoleonic Era, but from World War Two [WW2].

[this story has been told in previous blog entries, the devoted reader will recognize. Much more germane at this moment to the current series of posts.]

A Soviet soldier attempting to save the unit [24th Samaro-Ulyanovsk Motor-Rifle Division] colors from capture by German forces [Minsk encirclement, 1941]. Read from the wiki entry:

"At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the division [24th] was disbanded, apparently following the loss of its Banner (divisional colours)."

"As it was made known later, that the instructor of the political department of the division, senior Commissar A. V. Barbashev had the Banner while the division [24th] was trying to break out of the German encirclement. Barbashev died on August 6, 1941 near Anyutino village Cherykaw Raion Mogilev Oblast. Local farmer D.N. Tyapin later found the stained Banner on the officers corpse. He buried the body and the Banner in the local cemetery."

"After clearing village Anyutino by the Soviet armies the Banner was taken and directed on to restoration. On February, 20th 1944 the restored Banner of former division was handed over to 24th Rifle Division (2nd formation). For his finding of the division's Banner, D.N. Tyapin has been honoured by being forever listed on the rolls of the 1st company of one of the division's regiments."

Here is the same story as retold by Suvorov, with added context essential to understanding the story: [from the book, "Inside the Soviet Army"]

"One most important element needed for the rebuilding of a new division is its old colors . . . if colors are lost - - that is the end of the division. If such a thing should happen, all its former commanders are sent to penal battalions, where they expiate their guilt with blood . . . in the war against Germany [1941] from the very beginning of hostilities and distinguished itself in the fighting near Minsk until, as part of the 13th Army, it found itself encicrcled [the Minsk encirclement]. Part of the division managed to break out but its colors were lost . . . In 1944, when the Red Army once again reached and then crossed the Soviet frontiers, a special commission began question local inhabitants . . . A peasant, D.N. Tyapin, told the commission how he had found the body of a Soviet officer, wrapped in a flag, and how he had buried the body, with the flag. The brave was immediately opened and the colors of the 24th Iron Division were found. The flag was immediately sent away for restoration and just as quickly, a new division was formed and given the old colors"

It should well be understood that the 24th Samaro-Ulyanovsk Motor-Rifle Berdychivskaya, Iron, Awards of October Revolution, three times Red Banner, Suvorov's, Bogdan Khmelnitsky division was an ELITE unit of the communist RED ARMY. During the Russian Civil War, the troops of the 24th Division, Bolshevik Red Army were considered to be among the most loyal and fervent followers of the communist cause? Again, from Suvorov:



* "one of the best in the Red Army."

* "Lenin corresponded personally with some of its soldiers."

It should also well be understood that the Red Army from the time of 1918 onwards made an active, concerted and draconian effort to purge the military of all bourgeois tendencies.

"bour·geois - - n.

A person belonging to the middle class.
A person whose attitudes and behavior are marked by conformity to the standards and conventions of the middle class.
In Marxist theory, a member of the property-owning class; a capitalist."

Red Army troops were to be purged of all Tsarist pre-Civil War "tendencies", the Red Army adopting egalitarian communist mores to include:

* Election of officers.

* Abolishing badges of rank.

* Self-criticism sessions between troops of all ranks.

* Troops strictly told to address one another [officers and enlisted both] as "comrade" ONLY.

For a period of almost several decades AFTER the end of the Russian Civil War, a display of bourgeois tendencies, NO MATTER WHAT THE SHAPE, MANNER, OR FORM, would result in a quick banishment to the GULAG, a ten year sentence being the same as a sentence of death.

Surely - - saving the colors - - from capture by the enemy - - by wrapping your body with the unit standard - - would have been thought to be a manifestation of a bourgeois tendency?? THIS WAS NOT THE CASE WITH THE COLORS OF THE 24TH DIVISION SAMARO-ULYANOVSK MOTOR-RIFLE DIVISION, THE APPELLATION OF WHICH WAS "IRON"!!

Saving the colors in this case, an action CARRIED OUT BY A RED COMMISSAR!!

coolbert.

Standards/Banners/Flags VIII.

This is coolbert:
The ancient ways die hard. [especially in the military]

See here at this web site a description of a ceremony where colors are consecrated.

Blessed by a whole host of religious authorities. An ecumenical/inter-faith service that cannot fail to impress. NOT a ritual from the is that is passe'. Held in 2001.

Colors being consecrated are those of the Royal Military College. Canadian military school of higher learning.

"The original regulation in the Canadian Forces stated that the consecration of colours had to be carried out by a revered religious figure . . . our consecration ceremony included the main religions represented at the College. Namely First Nations of Canada; Buddhist; Christian; Hindu; Jewish; Muslim; Sikh; Zorastrian."

"The year 2001 marks the 125th anniversary of the Royal Military College of Canada . . . This important milestone has been celebrated through number of significant events . . . One such event was the consecration of new colours (flags) for the College, on Saturday 29th September 2001."

Go here and view the index from which all the prayers offered can be seen. Truly an ecumenical gathering.

Act of Consecration.



Chaplain General:

"In the name of all that is sacred to us, we do consecrate and set apart these Colours that they may be a sign of our duty toward our Queen and Country. "

All:

"So Be It!"

Chaplain General:

"We pray that the prayers which we offered this day be accepted.
To those whose Colours have been consecrated we now return them as a sacred trust."

"May the members of the Royal Military College of Canada serve their country with Truth, Duty, Valour."

This stuff [consecration of the colors] IS TAKEN WITH THE UTMOST SERIOUSNESS. As well it should be!!

"So Be It!"

coolbert.

Standards/Banners/Colors VII.

This is coolbert:

Isandhlwana.

"Zulu Dawn is a 1979 book and war film about the Battle of IsandHlwana between British and Zulu military units in 1879 in South Africa."

[a sequel to the movie "Zulu". Both movies are MUST see for military history buffs!]

Isandhlwana. British 24th of Foot [Welsh] versus the massed Zulu army. Total victory to the Zulu. Annihilation almost in totality of a British unit by "savage forces". At the climactic end of the movie, the British commander, Pulleine, orders two of his officers to save the colors. This was the ride of Melvill and Coghill! Futile effort at escape, again, illustrating the superhuman efforts that have traditionally been made to safeguard the colors of a unit from being captured by an enemy.

"During the last minutes of the battle, the camp's commander, Colonel Pulleine, entrusts the Union Jack [Queen's Colors/national flag] to two junior officers, Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill, who attempt to carry it to safety in Natal . . . While attempting to cross the Buffalo River, the three lieutenants - Melvill, Coghill, and Vereker - are cut down by Zulus and the Union Jack is captured"

NOT ENTIRELY ACCURATE. ALL THREE MEN WERE KILLED, INCLUDING THE TWO MEN ENTRUSTED WITH SAFEGUARDING THE QUEEN'S COLOR, BUT THE FLAG WAS NOT CAPTURED!!

"The film generally avoids historical inaccuracies and is fairly true to the events of January 22, 1879."

"The scene depicting Lts. Melvill and Coghill's escape with the Union Flag is inaccurate. In the film, Lt. Melvill carries the Union Flag unfurled, whereas in reality the Union Flag of the 24th Regiment was furled up inside its leather case. In addition . . . Melvill was too exhausted to hold onto the heavy flag while trying to swim the river, and it slipped from his grip. It was later recovered, so probably was never captured."

NO, floated downstream and settled to the bottom of a pool, then covered by a layer of silt. WAS RECOVERED TWO WEEKS LATER, CLEANED, AND NOW HANGS IN A PLACE OF HONOR. The Queen's flag was NOT CAPTURED BY THE ZULU!!

"The colour floated downstream and was later recovered from the bottom of a pool: it hangs in Brecon Cathedral, adorned with a wreath of immortelles placed upon it by Queen Victoria in memory of the events of that day."

"im·mor·telle - - n. - - having flowers that retain their shape and color when dried. - - French, from feminine of immortel, immortal [a wreath of dried flowers, symbolizing immortality!]"



A sacred consecrated object, the colors, hung in a sacred consecrated place.

". . . It was Melvill's responsibility to save the regimental colours as he did not have any troops directly under his command. Lt. Coghill likewise did not have any responsibility for troops, therefore there was no necessity for him to remain"

The two junior officers without troops to command were entrusted with guarding the colors [only the Queen's flag was present at Isandhlwana]!

Both posthumously [1907] were awarded the Victoria Cross. Highest British decoration for valor.

coolbert.

Standards/Banners/Colors VI.

This is coolbert:

"A contributor to the New Statesman, writing in October 1973, affected to believe that 'all the stories of deeds of heroism in defence of military colours can only have been so much myth-making.'"

So much myth making??

NO!!!!!

From the American Civil War, there are numerous instances, perhaps too many to count, of courage of the most extreme sort displayed on the battlefield by those protecting the colors, and also by those attempting to capture the colors of the enemy.

A standout in this regard was Thomas Custer. Twice winner of the Medal of Honor. On both occasions, capturing Confederate colors.




Citation:

"Capture of flag on 10 May 1863."

Citation:

"2d Lt. Custer leaped his horse over the enemy's works and captured 2 stands of colors. having his horse shot from under him and receiving a severe wound."

Custer IS ONE OF ONLY SEVERAL ARMY COMBAT SOLDIERS TO TWICE WIN THE MEDAL OF HONOR!! [called the Congressional Medal of Honor [CmoH] at the time.]

The actions of Thomas Custer can only be described as foolhardy? NOT by the standards of the time? Thomas Custer of course is the younger brother of the famous George Armstrong Custer. Both George and Thomas perishing at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

The behavior of Thomas Custer was NOT an anomaly?

Just from the state of Pennsylvania, heroic efforts were evidenced over and over by soldiers protecting the colors, preventing capture by the enemy!

"Among all the duties assigned to infantrymen during the Civil War, the job of color bearer was perhaps the most honored, yet most deadly upon the field of battle."

"Benjamin Crippen the color sergeant for the 143rd PA Volunteers was one of these bearers. During the fighting on the first day of Gettysburg, Crippen kept turning around as the regiment retreated, shaking his fist at the Confederates and daring them to take his color. Crippen paid for his bravery with his life and Confederate General A.P. Hill expressed sorrow at seeing him killed".

"At the battle of Fredericksburg, during on of the tragic assaults on Marye's Heights, the entire color guard was decimated. Colonel Henry I. Zinn of Carlisle grabbed the falling state color and cried 'Stick to your standard boys! The Hundred and Thirtieth never abandons its standard!' Moments later a bullet struck the colonel in the skull. He was carried to the rear with the color and died in about thirty minutes. During the battle, 32 bullets hit the flag."

"Sergeant Hiram Purcell of the 104th PA. At the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, color sergeant James Slack was seriously wounded Purcell surged forward to grab the falling state color. Carrying both the state and national colors, he ran for the rear. He was struck by bullets in the thigh, arm and neck but managed to save both of the colors. Purcell survived his wounds and was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions."

Dig this stuff too! Controversy stirred up decades after the end of the war! Action on the part of President Cleveland that actually cost him a re-election.

"Cleveland [President Grover Cleveland] . . . had not fought in the Civil War . . . Furthermore, he had offended many Union veterans by returning captured Confederate battle flags to the South."

[Cleveland, as had Theodore Roosevelt Sr. [father of the famous President Teddy] had BOUGHT a replacement!]

According to the eminent historian Shelby Foote, a Great Compromise was struck between the northern and southern states in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Southerners admitted that it was probably a good thing that the Union was preserved [and it was!]. Northerners on their part admitted that the southerners had fought with bravery and courage [and they had!!]. Recriminations were set aside and a consensus was agreed upon by participants that was to the benefit of everyone. Allowed healing to proceed with “all due speed”.

The return of captured Confederate battle flags was seen by President Cleveland as being part of the healing process? Union war veterans were indignant - - YES! But a higher purpose was served?! It would be interesting to know exactly what the motivations of Cleveland were, if such could be determined.

coolbert.

Standards/Banners/Colors V.

This is coolbert:

The Napoleonic Era.

Yet once more from John Keegan: "The Face of Battle":

"A contributor to the New Statesman, writing in October 1973, affected to believe that 'all the stories of deeds of heroism in defence of military colours can only have been so much myth-making.'"

So much myth making??

NO!!!!!

THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF THE BLACK-POWDER ERA WAS THE DETAIL WITH THE DUTY OF GUARDING THE COLORS.

"Those [the colors] . . . were carried by the two most junior officers of the battalion, each escorted by two senior sergeants, and these posts were the most dangerous which could be held in action.”

At Waterloo, astounding feats of heroism were recorded in defense of colors:

”Sergeant Lawrence of the 40th [British unit], ordered to the colours at four in the afternoon [at Waterloo], recalled his reluctance: 'This . . . was a job I did not at all like; but I still I went as boldly to work as I could. There had been before me that day fourteen sergeants already killed and wounded while in charge of these colours, with officers in proportion and the staff and colours were almost cut to pieces.'"

"Ensign Christie of the 44th [British unit] was charged by a Frenchman whose lance 'entering the left eye, penetrated to the lower jaw . . . Christie . . . flung himself upon the (the colour] . . . and fell to the ground on top of it."

"Volunteer Clarke, carrying the new Regiment Colour of the 69th [British unit] . . . received twenty-two saber wounds, but hung on to the colour and killed three French cavalrymen with his own sword . . . Clarke was only sixteen [years of age]" [!!!]

At Waterloo and other battles of the Napoleonic era, the French also displayed great courage and heroism both in defense of their own colors and in attempts to capture enemy colors. THE FRENCH WERE SECOND TO NO ONE IN THIS REGARD!!

"the many accounts [at Waterloo] of extraordinary heroism displayed in defence of, or attempts to capture, colours. Several Frenchmen virtually committed suicide in hopeless and quite unnecessary efforts to carry British infantry colours back to their lines."

"Frenchman Aristide-Aubert Dupetit Thouars, captain of the Tonnant, during the Battle of the Nile. Thouars had his right arm shot away, then the left and finally one of his legs was taken off by a cannonball . . . One of his final orders was to nail the Tricolour to the mast so it could not be taken down in surrender."

With Paris threatened in 1814, the French even took the most desperate measures to destroy enemy colors in their possession. Kept as prizes and trophies of war and museum pieces. What can only be described as A MASS of colors captured in battle over a span of HUNDREDS OF YEARS!!

"As Allied forces closed in on Paris in late March 1814, Marshal Jean Serurier, governor of Les Invalides, oversaw the mass burning of battle flags taken from enemy units over hundreds of years. Some 1500 of the battle trophies were burned."

C'est le guerre dude!!

coolbert.

Standards/Banners/Colors IV.

This is coolbert:

Thanks here to Crisis Magazine December 2006 H. W. Crocker III this exciting read through FreeRepublic.

[the name of H.W. Crocker III is not familiar to me. He is a historian who writes good history! Seems to!]

Lepanto (1571).




Naval battle, fought off the coast of Greece. Decisive action between the forces of the Holy League and the Ottoman Empire. Victory for the Holy League.

Another “high water” mark of history. Defeat from which the naval power of the Ottomans in the Mediterranean never did recover.

"This Turkish defeat stopped Turkey's expansion into the Mediterranean, thus maintaining western dominance, and confidence grew in the west that Turks, previously unstoppable, could be beaten."

[we do not normally think of the various Muslim nations as being seafarers? But for almost a thousand year period, Muslim raiders [corsairs] had harried Christian communities along the southern coast of the Mediterranean, AND EVEN MADE RAIDS AS FAR NORTH AS ENGLAND, IRELAND, AND ICELAND!!!]

The Holy League fleet consisting of naval vessels from Spain, Genoa, Venice. Commanded by the Austrian Prince Don Juan. A naval force the fighters aboard to include Sir Knights from a variety of nations [including contingents of the Knights of Malta], gentlemen adventurers, and many individual Protestant soldiers[?], [willingly serving under the Papal Banner with the blessing of the Pope!].

"Catholic knights not only from the papal states and the Knights of Malta, but from Italy, Germany, and Spain; and even from England, Scotland, and Scandinavia, Catholics and freebooters, gentleman adventurers and convicts"

A Pan-European force to confront the external and alien threat [Ottomans]

During the battle, both sides prominently flew enormous banners aboard their flagships proclaiming their allegiance.

Banners to include:

* The Papal Banner. "He [Don Juan] also had the blessings of the pope and the papal banner"

* The Banner of the Knights of Malta.

* The Banner of Ali Pasha [Ottoman commander].

* The Sultan’s Own Banner. "the sultan’s own undefeated standard made of green silk and with the prophet’s name threaded through it 28,900 times in gold"

SOP [standard operating procedure] for combatants on both sides would have been to grapple with and board an enemy ship, engaging in close quarters combat with your adversary, overcoming same, CAPTURING THE BANNER OF THE ENEMY VESSEL IF POSSIBLE BEING A MAJOR GOAL!!

At Lepanto, honor to the Holy League, disgrace to the Ottomans. The banners of BOTH ALI PASHA AND THE SULTAN WERE CAPTURED BY THE CHRISTIAN FORCES! Symbolic of the ignominious and total Ottoman defeat!

"He [Don Juan]. . . made gifts of two captured banners: The imperial Ottoman banner went to the pope; the fabulous green silk banner went to Philip II, along with his after-action report."

Do not think, however, that the Holy Leaguers emerged from Lepanto totally unscathed. The banner of the Knights of Malta was captured by a Christian turncoat, an Italian convert to Islam and corsair.

"Uluch Ali Pasha, an Italian turned Barbary corsair. Uluch Ali had his prize—the Knights of Malta’s banner—and he knew how to skedaddle when necessary. A realist, he knew the bigger battle was lost." [It is as if the man was saying, “I did my bit, I’m outta’ here!!”]

Read the comments on the FreeRepublic link. Most interesting.

coolbert.

Standards/Banners/Colors III.

This is coolbert:

Romans.

Standards as carried by the Roman legions were not a set of flags as the modern colors. Were a pole with a golden eagle atop. An Aquila [eagle]. As with modern colors, the aquila were consecrated, devotion to them of a religious nature being more profound, the Romans of course being pagans. The aquila would have been thought to have a spirit actually present within the golden image itself?

Again, as with modern colors, the Roman legions would have taken the most extraordinary and even desperate measures to safeguard an aquila during battle. To lose a standard to an enemy would have been the ultimate disgrace, death before dishonor being the watchword!

"The Roman Standards"

"the Romans commonly considered it a point of honour to preserve their standards . . . A wounded or dying standard-bearer delivered it, if possible, into the hands of his general, from whom he had received it signis acceptis."

"Roman standards were held in awe. They were symbols of Roman honour. So much so that to recover lost standards Roman leaders might engage on campaigns"

There are several significant defeats in Roman military history where the standards of multiple legions were lost. A catastrophe of this nature was taken with the utmost seriousness by the rulers of Rome. Redemption was essential in these instances, the recovery of the standards being an undertaking pursued with the greatest resolve.

Defeats to include:

(1) Belgica. "In the winter of 17/16 [B.C.], the governor of Gallia Belgica, Marcus Lollius, was defeated by the Sugambri, and the Fifth legion Alaudae lost its eagle standard: the ultimate disgrace to a Roman army unit."

"It seems that at least one military standard was returned [more than one was lost?], because a coin minted by a man named Lucius Caninius Gallus in 12-11 [B.C.]"

(2) Carrhae. NO further elaboration needed here. Carrhae was one of the two "high-water" marks in Roman military history. Defeat of the legions [commanded by Lucinius Crassus] at the hands of the Persian Parthians. NO additional eastward expansion of the Roman Empire became possible after Carrhae.

"The Battle of Carrhae was fought in June 53 BC.

"Rome was humiliated by this defeat, and this was made even worse by the fact that the Parthians had captured several Legionary Eagles [Aquilae]."

"The legionary standards lost at Carrhae were not recovered until 20 BC [that is thirty-three years after the initial loss], when Augustus negotiated their return from the Parthians, a diplomatic triumph celebrated the next year by the dedication of the Arch of Augustus."

"The capture of the golden Aquilae (legionary battle standards) by the Parthians was considered a grave moral defeat and evil omen for the Romans. It required a generation of diplomacy before the Parthians returned them. Their return was considered a great triumph by Augustus, and celebrated like a military victory."

(3) Teutoburger Wald. As with Carrhae, no elaboration required with regard to the Teutoburger Wald. Further Roman eastward expansion into the lands of the Germanii and even eastward of that if possible was forever stymied. Three legions annihilated, two standards being captured and desecrated by the barbarians.

"Battle in the Teutoburg forest (German Teutoburger Wald): the defeat of the Roman commander Publius Quintilius Varus against the Germanic tribesmen of the Cheruscian leader Arminius in 9 CE [common era]. Three legions were annihilated"

"Of the three Eagle standards [aquilae ]of the legions - XVII, XVIII, and XIX - two were captured. The standard bearer with the third plunged with his standard into the swamp."

[that standard bearer of the third standard may have very well lost his life in the process of hiding the Eagle. But THE AQUILA WOULD NOT HAVE FALLEN INTO THE HANDS OF THE BARBARIANS!! Death before dishonor!!]

"Florus, quoting a source written between 17 and 40 [C.E.] . . . says that one standard-bearer was able to escape with an eagle, which he buried in the bog."

NOT ONLY were the Roman standards captured, but DESECRATED AS WELL!! An offering from the barbarians to their gods! Such desecration must have been that even more traumatic and humiliating to the Romans. The Germanii understood full well the devotion and sanctity given to the aquila by the Romans and sought the ultimate debasement possible for the icons of the hated invader [the Romans]!

"according to Tacitus, that 'In the groves of Germany were still to be seen the Roman standards which he had hung aloft to the Gods of their fathers'"

"Tacitus, quoting Pliny the Elder, mentions . . . that the eagle standards had been desecrated."

Such was the response to the loss of standards at the Teutoburger Wald that the Romans embarked on a special military expedition to recover the lost standards!

"a special campaign was launched against the Germans to recover the standards lost by Varus in the Teutoburger Wald."

An expedition that was only partially successful [?], if at all, one standard alone being recovered, and that thirty-two years after the initial loss!!

"In 41, one of the Roman eagle standards was recovered among the Chauci"

In the process to recover lost standards, the Romans were certainly persistent!!

coolbert.

Standards/Banners/Colors II.

This is coolbert:

ROMANS.

"There is nothing quite comparable in modern armies to the Roman standards, signa, except perhaps the regimental colours. They performed the function of being a recognition signal and a rallying point. Army units required a device to watch and follow in battle conditions and the soldiers also needed to recognize their own at a glance."

Here, again, thanks to John Keegan/"The Face of Battle", a description of how the Romans would use and employ their standards in battle [rallying point, keeping formation, location of the commander, recognition signal]!

From the narratives ["The Commentaries"] of Julius Caesar himself.

Describing here a Roman combat against the Nervii, B.C. 57:

"The soldiers were crowded too closely together to be able to fight easily, because the standards of the Twelfth legion had been massed in one place. All the centurions of the fourth cohort had been killed, together with its standard-bearer [the most dangerous place on the battlefield] and its standards had been lost. . . . shouting encouragements to the rest [of the Romans] he [Caesar] ordered them to advance the standards and deploy into extended order, so that they could use their swords more easily."

[The Romans standards were too closely bunched. Consequently, the soldiers [of each cohort] found themselves unable to swing their swords freely. The ability of the Roman to fight was severely impeded by bunching of the standards.]

Caesar, single-handedly reorganized the cohorts so they could fight in an effective manner.

coolbert.

Standards/banners/colors I.

This is coolbert:

The military parading of colors [flags] today is largely a ceremonial function. But was not always so. Precious little is known by the lay public of the military tradition or significance of carrying into battle standards/banners/colors. The practice [carrying colors into battle] that ONLY RECENTLY, WITH THE ADVENT OF MODERN WARFARE AND THE WIDESPREAD USE OF AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, HAS CEASED!!

"In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours or standards, to act both as a rallying point for troops, and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 years ago"

Originally a staff or standard, such as the Roman aquila [eagle]. In the modern sense, “colors”, two flags, one a national flag, representing the sovereign [king], the other a unit [organizational] flag.

"The first is the National Color . . . The second is the Organizational Color"

“As armies became trained and adopted set formations, each regiment's ability to keep its formation was potentially critical to its, and therefore its army's, success. In the chaos of battle, not least due to the amount of dust and smoke on a battlefield, soldiers needed to be able to determine where their regiment was.”

Think of the phalanx of the Greeks, the cohorts of the Romans, the regimental squares of the black-powder era. Closely bunched troops, forming “squares” and other tightly packed formations as used during the particular era. Where the standard or colors went, so went the soldier. A point of reference that could be relied upon during a time of chaos."

NOT merely objects or “pieces of cloth”! Have a significance and symbolism of marked proportions! CONSECRATED ITEMS, BLESSED!!

"Colours are consecrated. Consequently they can serve as an altar for a drumhead service"

Legal proceedings [courts martial] or religious services can be held in the presence of the colors, regardless of the location. [drumhead refers to ”in the field”!] Perjury or irreligious behavior while the colors are present IS CONSIDERED TO BE AN ESPECIALLY EGREGIOUS VIOLATION, PUNISHABLE IN A SEVERE MANNER!!



See here the blessing of the colors - - the Russian Women's Legion of Death [all woman combat battalion from World War One].

As to heroics that can be involved in guarding the colors from enemy capture!

". . . in most modern armies, standing orders now call for the Colours to be intentionally destroyed [or saved if they can be] if they are ever in jeopardy of being captured by the enemy."

From John Keegan: "The Face of Battle"

"A contributor to the New Statesman, writing in October 1973, affected to believe that 'all the stories of deeds of heroism in defence of military colours can only have been so much myth-making.'"

So much myth making??

NO!!!!!

"for a regiment to lose its colours was (and still is) a major disgrace, with the capture of an enemy's colours (or equivalent) being seen as a great honour. This is why that, whenever the colours are paraded, they are always escorted by armed guards and paid the highest compliments by all soldiers and officers, second only to those paid to the sovereign."

Escorts for which the defense of the colors was intended. Escorts willing to pay the ultimate price to prevent the colors being captured and the unit dishonored!

The ultimate price equals DEATH!!

coolbert.