Flags at the 2nd Afghan war

[Andrei1975]

Hello colleagues. I need pictures of the British Army flag on the 2nd Afghan war.

[Mad Guru]

Andrei,

During the Second Afghan War, British and Indian troops carried regimental "colours" -- pairs of standards, one "Queen's Colour" and one "Regimental Colour."  Not all regiments brought their standard with them from India to Afghanistan, but some are explicitly recorded as having carried theirs into battle, including the 72nd Duke of Albany's Highlanders at Charasiab, and the ill-fated 66th Berkshires at Maiwand, where they fell into the hands of the Afghans.

Queen's Colours were usually the Union Jack inscribed with the crown and the regimental number, and sometimes a device as well, such as seen here:



The Regimental Colours usually were a solid flag in the regiment's facing color, with the number and sometimes also the device in the center, surrounded by its Battle Honors, and a small Union Jack in the upper corner attached to the pole, as seen here:



Here are a couple of links to web pages with info on British Regimental colours:

http://imperialflags.blogspot.com/2008/04/royal-logistics-corps-ensign.html

http://armylists.org.uk/badges.htm

...and here's a link to the "Regiments" page over at Garen Ewing's excellent history of the Second Afghan War site, which lists every British and Indian regiment that served in the war (along with their respective Battle Honors):

https://www.garenewing.co.uk/angloafghanwar/waroffice/regiments.php

If you find individual regiments that interest you, you can search the above sites and/or the web in general for their respective flags.

I believe the national flag of the UK was the same as today, as since 1801:



In case you're also interested in Afghan flags from the same period, here's a link to a 2012 thread discussing them over on TMP...

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=278404

EDIT:

On the above TMP thread I posted an image of an Afghan cavalryman with a standard on his back that seems to have disappeared since 2012.  Just in case anyone's interested, here it is again:

[Andrei1975]

Thank you comrade. This is a very useful links. But at the moment I'm interested in a modern image of the company commander or the regimental flag of the 66th Regiment, which I could use for your thumbnails. The fact that the quality of the flags of the box Perry does not suit me.

[Mad Guru]

Not sure if you've ever heard of the Flag Dude here in the USA.  He makes excellent flags.  Over the years some people have had difficulty reaching him via email to place orders, but I personally have always had an easy time, and he is also known to be responsive to phone orders.  Back in 2010 I did a big Maiwand game for the 130th anniversary of the battle and he made all my flags, including a pair for the 66th Regt.  I think you were asking above for higher quality images to print out and make yourself, but if you're interested in purchasing flags you could order a set of 66th Colours from him.

Here's some pics:

66th Berkshires...





Jacob's Rifles...



Bombay Grenadiers...




LINK to Flag Dude website:

http://flagdude.com

[Andrei1975]

Thank you. I have long admired your project and in many ways I use your ideas. Bravo. And on this company I know. However, I really want to make myself flags. I like it more.

[Andrei1975]

And I would like to consult with you on account of the color of his turban at the Jacob's Rifles. Do you they are green, but I want to do blue, as in this picture. Is it correct?

[Mad Guru]

Thanks for your kind words, Andrei.

RE: turban color for Jacob's Rifles, aka: 30th Bombay Native Infantry, the only explicit reference I have is in W.Y. Carman's Indian Army Uniforms, Artillery, Engineers, and Infantry, which says: "...the dark green purgri had a green fringe and a red kullah."

[Andrei1975]

Thank you. Your words generally do not contradict my drawing. And I'll be in a better position using new figures Perry of the regiment:

[Mad Guru]

Yes, if the Perrys release a command pack and maybe another set of poses to go with those new Jacob's Rifles figures, I may force myself to replace my ersatz Sikh version... though it will be a lot of work -- and I'll need another set of their flags!

I should mention my green puttees are a bit fanciful.  There's a photo of a sepoy from the unit attending Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897, with green puttees.  I liked the look enough to back-date it a few years.  It's not impossible they wore green puttees in the field during the war, but khaki puttees are more likely.

[Andrei1975]

Totally agree with you. I plan to winding it khaki.

[Andrei1975]

Hooray! Came the command group and blister Corps continued:

[Mad Guru]

Yes, saw them earlier today on TMP, along with new Afghan regular infantry.  These Jacob's Rifles are very nice indeed!

Seems to me it's probably just a matter of time before the Perrys sculpt & release a few packs of 1878-1885 Gurkhas as well.  The question in my mind is who will release c.1880 Gurkhas first, the Perrys... or Artizan?

[Andrei1975]

I'm also really looking forward to the Gurkhas from his brothers. That would be great.

[Mad Guru]

Have to give the Perrys credit -- just visited their site and they've cross-posted a list of figure packs from their Egypt/Sudan range which can also be used for the Second Afghan War.

This list includes all the Indian troops from that range except the Bengal/Boombay infantry.

I give them a lot of credit for leaving those packs out, due to their turban covers, not yet in use during the Second Afghan War of 1878-1880.

Only the colonial versions of button-counting grognards would know or care about that, so at least to me it's impressive they chose to forgo a chance to sell a few more packs of figures so as not to mislead their customers.

[Andrei1975]

I agree with you friend. It is right. And by the way I really like your conversion of these turbans.