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@BrandonF - what was your thoughts on the Dodge Challenger advert with George Washington & British Redcoats regards uniforms & colours? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OnQXRxW9VcQ.htmlsi=VWh2G-a-Puad3y2M
I imagine that it’s more than just a thing of pride, to make sure the enemy doesn’t take your flag! More than just being shameful, imagine how dangerous it could be if the very thing that your men are supposed to look for, in order to know where they are supposed to go… fell into the hands of the enemy! I certainly wouldn’t want any of my troops who get confused in the throng of battle, to mistakenly think they’re supposed to rally to the enemy!
@@Alulim-Eridu It is hard for me in Civil War Reenactments becuase the Colour bearer was usually targeted in the real war and since I want to portray accurately, I die in those battles half the time
@@OrangeSuitEdits I live close to old fort Niagara Where there’s a decent community of re-enacters(sp?) And I really appreciate when people make the effort to portray that stuff as accurately as possible! It’s such a valuable teaching tool to be able to see with your own eyes, how things were done!
Great sequence from the "Sharpe" series, one of the best! David Troughton's Wellington was just superb! The man just oozed menace, like a bomb with a fuse slowly burning toward the detonator. You're waiting for the explosion and sure enough, it comes!
The way flags are shown in linear warfare is another thing that movies almost always get wrong. They treat armies with flags as if they were international football flags, carrying flags just to show which side they're on. So you'll often see a man carrying a flag every few files in a rank. The other thing movies nearly always get wrong is artillery, Rather than showing roundshot skipping through files they'll almost always show the guns firing explosive shells which blow up on contact with the ground, more akin to modern artillery.
That’s one of my big pet peeves, is when Colours are just thrown in hodgepodge to look cool and don’t have a function behind them, and they’re being just carried along and not used for anything. It always looks so silly.
The Unholy holy Dominion in the destroyermen books carry 4 flags into battle the national flag the flag of the Pope the regiment was founded under the Army flag of what army they belong to and one they called a battle flag. As an account from a battle with them. They had more cloth above them them than they were wearing the holy dominions Army tactics seem to be 1630s and early 1700s was the common or is that just something unique in the book
When I deployed to Afghanistan, we had our Battalion Colours with us mounted in the ops room. Even though today they aren't carried in to individual battles, they're still blessed by the monarch and are still that important to us. Guests would enter the ops room and instantly be faced with all the traditions and honours bestowed to my regiment.
You know, going into this video I had a feeling that things like that still happened, but I didn’t have all that long to research for it and I couldn’t find any solid sources for it off the bat to include here. That is really cool to hear! Do you happen to know any particular places I can look to learn more? May make for an interesting follow up video or post some time.
@@BrandonF I don't think there would be a definitive source, I can only speak of the experience I saw within the 2nd Battalion Duke of Lancasters Regt. Other units may do it differently. The Regimental handbooks of individual regiments are available as pdfs on the British Army website, but they may not hold the exact info and might just say "If conditions are inhospitable for the colours they will be lodged at the Regimental HQ".
My understanding is that modern militaries don't fight "battles" per se at all. A battle is the single combat military units, two armies enter and one army leaves. Modern warfare is just constant skirmishing until one or both armies are degraded past the point of any military use.
American soldiers tend to be offended by the term "battle" period. They occasionally make soldiers go around in pairs, "battle buddies," a technique normally used to corral children. They find it degrading.
@@josephjagusah8668But battles do still take place on occasion afaik, typically when an objective important to one army is threatened and both armies start sending more and more troops, sometimes eventually getting to a point of no return where leaving those soldiers will be a very major loss and you just have to keep investing in the sector.
I'm reminded of Generation Kill, when the Marine unit lost the battle flag they'd had since Libyan campaign in the 1800s (...from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli...), because the commander stupidly ordered that they leave behind a truck that was stuck in mud. Turned out the truck had all their supplies and the unit colors on it.
It's fascinating to see how this tradition has persisted till today - American Infantry Companies, at least Marine ones, carry Guide-On's. Knowing that it originated from the cavalry, is definitely an interesting fact I never knew. Appreciate the insight, Brandon!
The U.S. Army also refers to the company banner as a Guidon but we do have regimental colors as well, each battalion of the regiment has a set for parades.
@@frozzie108all the British regiments still have all their Regimental Colours and the Union Flag or King’s Colours, and when they parade for ceremony they still have a colour guard to carry them. Cavalry guidons are a separate thing.
In the classic Milton Bradley, 18th century armies themed, two-player board game, "Stratego," the object of the game is to find and capture your opponent's "Colors/Flag."
@@Marinealver I played countless hours against my brother and sister when we visited our grandparents during the 80s. Have my own set now up in my closet.
I think a great example of how dangerous being in the colour guard was, the 1st Texas at Antietam took a volley at like 20 yards and the entire colour guard went down
17:40 This part is what made me subscribe to Brandon F channel. Not only do I love all the educational info I get from his videos, but the youthful exuberance and energy you can feel how he really loves and is passionate about this topic and I love his style of communication. And I 100% agree Brandon, that was an awesome take and I love that you included the mic drop :)
During the Battle of Custoza (24th of June 1866) near the village of Oliosi a group of 38 italian soldiers and officers (36 of the 44° Regiment of Infantry, 1 of the 43° and 1 of the "Guides" Regiment) under the command of captain Baroncelli resisted from 9 to 11.30 am in a farmhouse that was being attacked by the Austrians. Seeing that it was impossible to call for support and that the Austrians had started a fire on the side of the farmhouse, they decided to surrender, but before they did that they tore apart the regimental flag in 13 pieces and hid them under their coats, then they buried the staff of the flag and surrendered. After the war 11 of the 13 pieces were retrieved and the flag was partially ricomposed and returned to the regiment; today it's present at the 2nd of June parade being put on the carriage of a cannon among other historical flags. Edit: the flag was only present at the 2011 parade, because it was the 150° anniversary of Italian Unification.
At the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, King Théoden renders Mordor's cavalry arm useless for the remainder of the battle by hewing down their standard bearer and standard, seemingly in one blow. There is no more mention of the Haradrim cavalry doing anything for the rest of the chapter.
Well, he also, more importantly, hewed down their King. In tribal warfare, which Tolkien was very familiar with, you kill the King, you defeat the force, for they fight for him due to a personal relationship of loyalty for gifts.
@@PalleRasmussen Good point! Two quibbles, though: Théoden killed their 'chieftain', and he did it with his spear. All the same, I'm sure you're right that loss of leadership made rallying the force impossible.
@@EriktheRed2023 And there was no-where to rally it. The banner is something that stands out on the battlefield, something to rally to. You see your banner flying you know where to rally.
@@EriktheRed2023 Important to note that while there might not be any further mentions of the Haradrim cavalry, the Haradrim as a whole did not stop fighting after their chieftain was killed, and indeed they rallied repeatedly and kept on fighting all day, long after the orcs had been routed. So if their cavalry didn't rally, that was probably because it was practically physically destroyed rather than because they had lost their leader
@@hrotha Indeed. Their mûmakil played a key role in opposing the Rohirrim and stopping the falling dominoes from the Northmen's cavalry charges. We know very little about the Haradrim and their political and military organization. Clearly, the 'chieftain' felled was not the sole leader of their nation/confederacy.
The colors were a source of esprit de corps, something like the physical manifestation of the unit's honor. Even as high school cadets it was drilled into us the importance of the units colors and the history behind them. Outsanding video and vigorous presentation.
Bro the craziest thing is that these kids are only 15 years old and facing down death on the battlefield with extreme bravery. 15 year old me would not be able to do that, I have much respect for these men.
There is also a really interesting voices of the past video in which he reads through the diary of a soldier at waterloo. This is a British soldier. In this particular anecdote, the sergeant mentions that he was asked to be on colors; after the last two men were killed earlier. He was not very happy about it lol
If you want to see practical usage of flag/totems in the modern times, look at music festivals and raves. People use them to find their group in huge areas with a lot of people.
Hello Brandon. I found your channel again after some years through mention of someone with whom you are no doubt familiar, Andrew Rakich of Atun-Shei Films. Since he mentioned your page I revisited and watched this nugget of history. It's good to see you are still making history films. As I said, I watched before but the vagaries of the algorithm shoved your offerings in the background over time and I lost track of you.
Local legend from my hometown of Dexter, Michigan was Colonel Harrison H Jeffords of the 4th Michigan. During the battle of the Wheat Field at Gettysburg, he dove into the center of fighting to save his regimental colors from being captured by the rebels, taking a bayonet in the process that would seal his fate. This moment was immortalized in the painting "Saving the Flag", by Don Troiani.
Yes Brandon, you were doing pretty good and still are, I commend you for doing it in one take! (That actually is very difficult, and your commitment to doing long segments in one take does not go un-noticed. :) )
The purpose of the flag is to signal to allies thar your unit is alive and kicking in order to inspire morale in your troops. There's an example of the Battle of Wei River where the capture of Zhao flags caused a panic and rout.
The colors are the most important thing on a battlefield especially to the men of the regiment, to which it belongs the flag was the pride of the unit. I personally research the American civil war and the amount of story’s I’ve heard of men bravely hoisting the colors while mortally wounded or desperately hand to hand fighting just for a simple piece of cloth sewn together by a colonels wife always amazed me.
Let's see, all that noise from rifle/musket/Artillery fire, no radios, indeed no electronics at all. Flags made sense, it was the best way to keep track of combat and coordinate units.
A few decades later an even better invention arrived: the heliograph (a deployable set of mirrors that allowed you to send messages by just using sunlight).
In the Spanish Army they are called "Banderas" (Flags) and carried by specifically appointed officers called "Abanderados" (would translate to "Flag carriers"). The 1768 Ordenances of Carlos III, second tome (On the Duties of Soldiers and Officers, up to and including Colonels; General Orders for officers in Garrison, Marching and Campaign duties...) dedicate the pages 200 to 204 (chapter called "Duties of the Abanderado") to the role and duties of the Abanderados, which in addition to carrying the battalion flag (in the Spanish army it's each battalion, not each regiment) they also are in charge of maintaining discipline and taking care of the administrative duties of the battalion. An NCO (Brigada /Warrant Officer) was permanently assigned as direct subordinate to each Abanderado to help them with their duties (as well as escorting them when needed). The importance of the flag itself is mentioned on several chapters of the Ordenances, so I won't go in much further detail here. In the fourth tome of the 1768 Ordenances of Carlos III ("On Formations, Drills and the Adequate use of the Weaponry") the role of the Flag is discussed on the chapters related to battalion-level formations, most explicitly pages 356 to 367 (chapters called "Formalities on which the Flags must be brought and received" and "Location of Flags, Officers and NCOs on the formations for battle, parade and march for battalion and regiment level"). Index of the 1768 Ordenances of Carlos III, from the Spanish Ministry of Defense (in Spanish): www.defensa.es/Galerias/fuerzasarmadas/realesordenazas/RROO_1768_extracto-accesible.pdf Article on the Abanderados by a Spanish newspaper: elfarodeceuta.es/el-abanderado/
Hey, Brandon! I was dumbfounded by the complexity that was described in the 17th c colours, on the ECW website- I had no idea that there was so much to it at this earlier point; like, I _expected_ it in the 18th & 19th c- but was quite overwhelmed with the information I was presented with...
As a German Fan of your Chanel and native of the State of Hesse i must admit that your quote "why would EVEN GERMANS consider bringing them along" is one of the most polite insults in the long and proud history of jokes and insults between Germany and England. By the way if you want to improve you knowledge about the German language and stay on your wounderful topic i suggest you should look the Movie " Der Winter der ein Sommer war" (The Winter which was a Summer) from 1976 which is a historical tale about men of the Regiment von Rall which fought as a part of the Hessian Army in the American War of Independence
When the 1st Minnesota counter charged at Gettysburg they took heavy casualties while breaking the Confederate's charge and they also took the Confederate's battle flag.
The 5th Minnesota also took the 4th Mississippi's flag at Nashville in 1864. There were a few other flag captures by Minnesota regiments throughout the war.
@@therealuncleowen2588 It's been a while back, but I seem to recall there was a "demand" from some southern historic groups (or states, I'm not sure at this point) that Minnesota return those captured flags. Then-Governor Jesse Ventura refused saying "If they asked for them nicely I might have considered it, but not if they demand them." As a veteran Ventura understood the "rules" concening battlefield captures.
I myself carried the division colours for the 101st Airborne before. The guidon of the headquarters battalion and intelligence company many many times. I don't believe they came with us on deployment but only at garrison.
Nice summary and explanation, but come on Brandon, the British army couldn't make it so easy as to only have one type of flag for cavalry units. Cavalry regiments descending from Regiments of Horse, becoming Household Cavalry & Dragoon Guards, carry square flags called standards, regiments descending from Dragoons, becoming Dragoons, Light Dragoons, Hussars and Lancers, carry swallow tailed Guidons. Because simple and straightforward is for foreigners.
Also, militaries have so much inertia that changing anything as visible and important as the colors, even if a unified system would be beneficial, never happens
@@BrandonF You nailed that one; I feel for you trying to explain the wierd intricacies, even in part, of the British Regimental system. You're doing great work, keep at it.
Use of flags as rally points is still done by tour guides. Very practical. I even saw one use small stuffed toys. Off topic: aww, no little timmy in the sponsor portion?
The US Army has regimental/battalion colors as well. They are taken into combat zones and stay with the battalion commander or their staff. There's ceremonies for deployment as well. When the unit is about to deploy, the colors are cased. When the unit takes control of their combat area, the colors are uncased. When the unit is rotated out, the colors are again cased and uncased when they return to their normal duty station. There are times when a unit is reflagged. The former colors are cased and sent to the US Army Center of Military History. The new colors are uncased. The soldiers then swap out unit crests, patches, or other specific items for the new unit. They then take on the history of their new battalion. An example of this is when soldiers in the Republic of Korea where part of the First Cavalry division in the early 1960s were reflagged to the Second Infantry division. The soldiers simply wore a different patch and conducted ceremonies under a different unit flag.
US Army tanker, we still use Guidons to this day. The Company commander likes to mount the Guidon on top of his tank whenever we go training or anything like that
They also drummers and sometimes pipers to play a jolly tune to die to. When they didn’t have drums and pipes occasionally the officers, who had nothing but a sword to wave around (granted it was quite useful up close) would sing to their men as they exchanged volleys of lead with the enemy.
The "jolly tune" the drummers and pipers played was a code with the different orders for each unit. Since the battlefields were big (and sending runners was a bad idea) plus telegraph and radio hadn't been invented yet, they used drummers and pipers to signal the orders. Think of it like Morse code, in a way.
@@podemosurss8316 yes but not always. Often they would simply be playing a jolly tune for the sake of making the men feel better. If there were orders that needed passing along they would play something different, or use a bugle.
In my country regimental banners have always had and up to this day have spikes on top them. Nowadays most spikes are purely decorative. But in my regiment you could actually stab someone with our banner.
Vous avez un sens quelque peu dramatique de présenter le sujet mais cela rend la chose intéressante! Merci de faire vos vidéos sur différents aspects militaires! De plus, j’apprécie votre anglais impeccable et vos présentations en français également!
bro it blows my mind that homie needs to make a whole video about why armies used flags in battle like, it seems self explantory , I really hope he made this video as his choice or people were curious if there were other implications it was used for and not because a lot of people thought they were "useless"
When i was in high school in my rotc program i was color guard and raised the US flag every morning for a year along with another raising the florida flag and another raising the navy flag both after me. It was a good experience. It was a navy JROTC program
If my unit pulled up and the other side had pimp flags and some guys just drumming I’d be concerned. It’s like a show of force that they have so many men and confidence they can just wavy flags and music in your face
And this is why Minnesota will never give the original Confederate Battle Flag back. We took it fair and square. Unfortunately, we cannot display the real one anymore, but we have several copies in museums because of how many people want to capture that flag. (The dispute and desire to repatriate it to Virginia only arose in the 21st century.)
I read something from German special forces medica about how they always carried the german tri color flag anywhere they went. Why? Because if a friendly gets hit and goes down, they hang it above them when caring them whenever possible. That way when the dissoriented, maybe deafened, maybe scared soldier can see the flag and know they are being cares for by his mates and not taken by the enemies. That way the flag represents a bit of the fatherland and their brotherhood for all woundes to take comfort in
Thank You for another informative video! Another possible reason for the great importance of the battle banners for the troops is that they represent their home region- a place with which a lot of people attributed their identity, before age of nationalism, because a lot of the time regiments were named after regions. I know this isn't that simple, national identity and the 18th century regimental recruitment are subjects, which I am still researching (and was quite surprised how multi-ethnic many units were), but this could be partial reason, at least to those men, whose regiment bears the name of their home.
Absolutely, especially in cases of "rented" regiments in foreign service, or those personally formed by officers, enlisting men wherever they could all across many lands. In those cases, the regiment was the only thing that united the fighting men, while men of "national" regiments did have at least a common land or tongue.
The total war games helped me understand their importance a lot. Without the colors youre just looking at a mob of men. Im not sure how historical it is, but the different shapes are also useful to determine the unit makeup at a distance. Dont have to actually see their polearms or bows to know who you are ordering around
Especially during the Napoleonic era where generals sat on a hill with a spyglass, flags were crucial. And yes, seeing flags is a great way to see what is going on. Miss a flag? That company is in deep, deep shit, better send reinforcements. Colours of C Company are much more to the west of their supposed position? Send a messenger to find out whats going on. In a time where information is limited, being able to differentiate units with a flag or 2 is extremely valuable.
It's easy to overlook the significance of the colors, or even to forget them. But they are the very identity and they embody the history, of a unit. The importance of this has been more than a little bit lost in contemporary warfare - or has it? My father was in the 45th Infantry Division in Korea. He could tell you the history of the division, at least to the point he mustered out and for decades after, and he could tell you the history and significance of the thunderbird patch the division (now downsized to a brigade) uses still. That the Romans went to battle many times simply to recover a lost standard says something. Thank you for another wonderfully presented & well considered discussion.
During Operation Dessert Storm the British flew the Union Jack on every tank and AFV not because it looked cool but because the Americans had at that point killed more Brits than the Iraqui’s due to friendly fire. This way the Americans would, atleast, see the friendly flags before shooting. Morale of the story: flags are still very useful in modern warfare. They save lives.
“Then raise the scarlet standard high. Within its shade we'll live and die, Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer, We'll keep the red flag flying here.” I love the subversion of the idea of the standard in the Labour song “The Red Flag.” The idea being that so long as working people are oppressed, they will resist, and so long as there is any working person anywhere in the world to carry it, the red flag will always defiantly fly. It is of all and for all.
And also flags are just as useful at demonstrations as they ever where on the battlefield, if not more. When there is a struggle between two crowds and there are no firearms, then cohesion and elán is that much more of a factor in who takes the day.
Regimental flags are rallying point for your regiment. Before the age of radio. Order Communication can only be done verbally by officers and NCOs, drums, or buggles. Which can be quite inneffective during engagement as black powder weapon shot in their thousands will cause a lot of noise and smoke which will cause confusion. So if a soldier saw his regiment flag. He knows he should be here and prevented him to jumble up with other regiments in a confusion. "Follow the flag whethever it goes" bssically.....
the simplest answer is identification. it was means identifying which country unit belonged to. also to indentify units thats why certain units uts like the royal marines had special colours to distinguish them from other units. further it is also a means of identifying rank and position which is why certain officers and position holder used to have special flags and often still do.
Im lucky enough to own a Corps headquarters guidon from the American Civil War. Its off being conserved now. I imagine it was one of maybe several arsenal made flags assigned to the Corps staff. If only it could talk.
@@BrandonF I initially approached a couple local museums asking if they were interested in me loaning it out to them and they declined due to the cost involved in actually preserving and framing the flag. I didn't realize how expensive conservation could be until I started the process myself. I went ahead and looked around for a historic textile preservation company and found one that has a very good reputation. They laid out the entire process for me and even with a flag in as good of shape as mine is its extremely involved. It's fascinating. My 3x Great Grandfather fought in the corps the flag belonged to so I pulled the trigger to get it done myself. It's my small part in keeping his and his comrades memories alive for the future. I hope it will hang in a gallery where others can enjoy it too.
Colours play the same role in paramilitary organizations as well. My VFW Auxiliary still has the colours of the Auxiliaries that amalgamated with ours. They are no longer around, but their colours are, their memory survived by them.
Fun fact, in 1942, when the US 4th Marine Regiment was ordered to surrender to the Japanese, the Regimental CO burned his colors to avoid their capture, and to this day, the 4th regiment is not allowed to have their HQ on American soil (individual battalions were removed and attached to other regiments) because of it.
Is there any evidence of enemy troops using captured colours in the middle of battle to try to screw up their opponent on purpose? Like signalling a retreat or something? Or would the capture of the colours be too obvious for them to be used for trickery right afterward?
Great Video as ever Brandon, I figure you can always pitch the argument in regards to the Standards of a Regiment, or otherwise a military unit hold such zeal & near insanity levels of defense for some flying cloth is just as equal as how a regular civilian who is proud of their country & loves it almost to the point to lay down their life for the Mother/Fatherland would revere the same way as any Soldier, Sailor, Airmen, Coasty, or any other service member would for their branch or unit standard; given what came before with the unit or branch's past & what that means to the members who have inherited that unit's history & traditions. And given how old these units can be; As example, The Royal Scots; Formally the 1st Regiment of Foot, had served the Crown of England, Great Britain, & the United Kingdom at large since 1633 up to 2006 before being one of the many battalions within the current Royal Regiment of Scotland, around 373 years of service, with many other regiments serving for just as long not just in England, but around the world. So it's no wonder with all that history & whom carried the banners before for the regiment, there is that sense of responsibility to continue that tradition & honor by making sure no one else but those of your regiment would hold onto your flag, let alone the enemy.
Yup The 1st Foot Guards A State Colour, 3 sets of Colours for each Battalion, being three at one time to Six and set for each company numbering 24 for a total of 31 colours ;)
On the field of battle, the spoken word does not carry far enough: hence the institution of gongs and drums. Nor can ordinary objects be seen clearly enough: hence the institution of banners and flags.
OMG Brendon! No mention of the yearly extravaganza watched by MILLIONS around the world…… Trooping The Colour 🇬🇧💂🏻♂️💂🏻♂️💂🏾♂️💂🏻♀️💂🏿♂️💂🏻♂️💂🏻♂️💂🏻♂️💂🏻♂️
I'd speculate that if you're a messenger going to deliver orders to the unit in question you might not easily find the officer, but you will find the colours, and from there the officer should be nearby.
To get the flag-based commendations? Duh. Flag Runner, Flag Defense, Flag Driver, Flag Champion, Flag Kill, Flag Joust, etc. That's XP and unlocked cosmetics and stuff.
The 16th Maine Volunteer Infantry at Gettysburg on July 1st, 1863 were ordered to defend against Rode’s Division, the Colonel of the regiment, realizing that they would be captured (they were ordered to hold the position at all costs as part of a rearguard action) he ordered the colors torn apart, the men of the regiment tearing their beloved colors off the staffs and into shreds.
