British Regimental Colours

[JArgo]

Hi

I’m planning adding the 2nd Battalion 88th to my collection.  I already have the 1st

Would the regimental Colours be identical to the 1st battalion?  I used Flags of War last time and I’d be happy doing so again.

Thanks

[Jemima Fawr]

Seen from a distance they were usually flippin' well identical and a lot of them had no differences whatsoever. 

However, a very few regiments used a 'pile wavy', which was a wavy flame-shape in gold, extending diagonally downward from the canton (i.e. the top corner nearest the hoist).  The II Bn would have one pile wavy, the III Bn would have two and so on.  However, this was very rare by the Napoleonic Wars and I can only recall it being carried on one of the colours of the Foot Guards and some Militia regiments.

One Highland Fencible regiment added a broad red horizontal stripe across the centre of the Regimental Colour of their II Bn.

Most commonly, regiments would add a Roman numeral 'II' or 'IId Battn' in gold on the canton or centrally above or below the central design. 

I can't find anything specific for the II/88th, although they do seem to have put '88' in the middle of the small Union Jack in the canton of the Regimental Colour.

[JArgo]

That's great!  Thanks so much.

[Baron von Wreckedoften]

Yes, I would echo what JF said - the pile wavy was, for the whole of the 18th Century, the traditional method of marking junior battalions when only a handful of regiments had them.  However, the augmentation of almost every line regiment as the Revolutionary/Napoleonic Wars progressed saw this system superceded, typically by an oval disc with "2nd/IInd Bn" or "3rd/IIIrd Bn" (usually in the top corner next to the staff).  A few regiments might have old colours from the 1780s, but even these would have been replaced by the start of the Peninsula War.

[Jemima Fawr]

Yup, what BvW said - the Roman numerals (and/or regimental title) could sometimes be superimposed on a crimson oval, usually edged in gold.  One that springs to mind is the 3rd Foot (Buffs).

[olicana]

pile wavy

Yep, heraldry is a bitch.