Bolshevik Cavalry Flags

[former user]

aha

3- why is the mixture odd? and why not a helmet? I understand that helmets were not popular, but it is this mixture that gives a real feel
5- of course real, but staged

7-so you see tachankas. but why post war? when were the pogonny reintroduced? and when did they stop using tachankas?
if I were to interpret, I would go for elite, at least for the front group, and since the officer looks quite different (Furashka, there is a small spot on the band that could be the place were the cockade was removed and there is no red star. also notice the standup collar - zoom it and take a look: seems like it is not plain- so he could be a former tsarist officer) could be very well a very authentic war picture


very well
so, now waiting for the translations....

[tom_aargau]

I have tried to read what is on the flags, the only thing that I can really make out is what I have written before, plus on #4 it says "vsewo mira" in the second line, means "of the whole world". So, it is clearly a slogan, what it says in the first line is anybody's guess. It is more than one word, but really could be anything.

[former user]

maybe freedem or communism to the whole world?

[tom_aargau]

Freedom in Russian is "cvoboda" and communism, well, communism. Could be either or both.

[former user]

well, I leave this to the specialists 

[Ignatieff]

Splendid gentlemen.  An inspired and well informed debate.  Now we will see if my painting skills are upto it!  Thank you.

[Poliorketes]

I'd take 2 as taken from a movie. Apart from looking at silly hats take a look at something much bigger - the horses. It's the only picture except no 7 where there are only large, wellfed horses with similar harnesses while in the other pics you can see different breeds (many small asiatic looking pony types)  with different harnesses. The horse front right in no 4 seems to fall apart from malnutricion.

[former user]

who is looking at the hats only?

no, the horse is very young, thats all (whether you mean no 3 or 4)

but you are are right, the propaganda horses are extremely well fed
and a mixture of horses after 5 years of war isn't surprising

I very well noticed that the officer leading the squadron is using a curb bit as opposed to his men, who retsraining only by a martingale
but the fact that curbed bits are used in western riding scools exclusively (maybe typical for tsarist officers?) whereas tie-downs are typical for riding ethnicities such as gauchos and cossacks seemed a little to strange argument

[Mark Plant]

3- why is the mixture odd? and why not a helmet? I understand that helmets were not popular, but it is this mixture that gives a real feel

Helmets were rare on RCW infantry, and more so for the Soviets. I've never seen a RCW cavalryman in helmet. For a Red cavalryman it is quite odd.

7-so you see tachankas. but why post war? when were the pogonny reintroduced? and when did they stop using tachankas?

Perhaps I'm imagining the tachankas. In any case they were used into WWII, so don't change anything. Pogoni were quite late.

I'd say post war largely because the uniforms are so nice. The only troops I might suspect of being that nicely dressed in the RCW might be some elite like ChON or Kursanty, and I think they were almost exclusively infantry. The elite Soviet cavalry divisions didn't get any rest during the war to refit, going straight from one campaign to another.

The well-fed horses is another thing to consider.

[former user]

OK
but even in war there can be some roll call etc, and then you have to neat up

let's say Trotzky came along to hold a speech....

well, anyway, here are the examples we needed for cavalry flags, with regimental and squadron version and all, cossacks included
just need the slogans now and everything is fine

but I guess the slogans are generic anyway and one has to watch for the numbers on the squadron pennants only