Colours c1890

The Colours held up here by sergeants of the Black Watch in the 1890s are the old Colours which were presented to the 42nd in Bareilly on 1 Jan 1861 by Sir Hugh Rose Commander-in-Chief of the army in India. The Queen's Colour has no battle honours but the Regimental Colour has 17 honours. When it was first presented it had only 13, six either side of the central device and EGYPT at the bottom. These honours included the ten Napoleonic battles plus ALMA, SEVASTOPOL and LUCKNOW. But later four other honours were added: ASHANTEE 1873-4, TEL-EL-KEBIR, EGYPT 1884-5, KIRBEKAN and NILE 1884-5. The size of the Colours was stipulated in a Warrant of 1868: 3 foot 9 inches flying and 3 foot on the pike. The Queen's Colour was to have a gold and silver fringe around the edge while the Regimental Colour was to have a gold and white fringe. Also the spear-head at the top of the pike was, in 1868, replaced by a gilt Royal Crest.

Regimental Details | Colours