British Officers of the French & Indian War from Contemporary Pictures

This is a gallery of portraits of British officers during the French & Indian War.  Since these portraits were painted from life, there are interesting regimental distinctions illustrated.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, but hopefully will prove interesting and a springboard for further research.

17th Regiment of Foot: Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Monckton.  He wears a non-regulation waistcoat, most likely one that is white.

 

27th Regiment of Foot.  Colonel William Blakeney.

 

35th Regiment of Foot: Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Fletcher (photo originally from The 35th Project https://web.archive.org/web/20120417165337/http://www.btinternet.com/~the35thfootproject/index.html.)  Fletcher's portrait is likely from the 1760s or later because of the epaulette, narrow lapels, and light waistcoat.

40th Regiment of Foot.  Captain George Scott.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

42nd Regiment of Foot.  Captain John Campbell.  This portrait dates after the 42nd was awarded the title of the Royal Highland Regiment in July 1758.  As part of this honor, their facings were changed from buff to blue, as seen in this portrait.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

47th Regiment of Foot: Captain Roger Morris.  Since Morris' painting shows an epaulette, it may date to the 1760s.  However, the cut of the lapels has not been updated to that seen in Fletcher's portrait.  Similar to Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, Captain Morris also wears a white waistcoat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

48th Regiment of Foot:  Captain Gabriel Christie.  Note the buff waistcoat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

55th Regiment of Foot.  Colonel George Augustus, Viscount Howe.  This most likely shows him in the uniform of the 55th Regiment of Foot.  It is possible that this illustration shows him as colonel of the 60th Regiment, but it appears that the 60th's officers did not wear buttonhole lace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

58th Regiment of Foot.  Lieutenant-Colonel William Howe. (Photo from Archives Canada https://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayEcopies&lang=eng&rec_nbr=2834245&title=General%20Sir%20William%20Howe.&ecopy=c096944k)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60th Regiment of Foot.  Jeffrey Amherst, possibly as colonel of the 60th Regiment of Foot.  Alternately, this portrait may illustrate a general's "undress" uniform.

Flags of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

In the 2005 movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, great care was taken to recreate the world of Narnia, its creatures and their cultures.  Much detail was lavished into this movie.  This post is a spotlight of one of those details: the flags of Aslan's Army during the First Battle of Beruna.  Much is still unknown, and there may be other flags not pictured here.  My hope is that this may serve as a springboard for more analysis.

With Aslan the great Lion dead at the hands of the White Witch, Peter, Edmund, and Aslan's army engage the Witch's army in battle.  Under their gold and red banners, they fight "for Narnia...and Aslan!"


All images gathered from eBay, WorthPoint, or screenshots of the movie.  I claim no copyright on any of them.  Click on them for larger version.

This flag is identified as belonging to the Centaurs of Aslan's army.

 This flag is also identified as belonging to the Centaurs.  Both have the same distinct crossed-sword motif.  This flag is likely suspended from a pole shaped like a T, similar to the yellow-and-red lion flag next.











 

One of the easiest flags to see in the movie is the pennant attached to the lances of the front rank of Centaurs as they charge home into the Witch's army.  It too bears the crossed-sword motif of the Centaurs.




This is an interesting collection of flags.  I have not found where the lion topper (left) appears in the movie.  The center flag with red lion is clearly visible in some of the long shots of Peter's army.  The bronze lion holding a yellow flag looks like one of those that topped the tents.

A clearer shot of the flag in the center of the photo above.

The unit that this flag identifies is not currently known.  It is clearly one belonging to Aslan's army, however, as it bears the same red-and-gold color scheme as all the rest.

 The "mystery flag" on camera!  It is on the far right of the shot, partially obscured by a Centaur's lance.  It is possible that this flag is carried by the Satyrs, but at present this is uncertain.

A different rectangular flag is visible behind the Satyr blacksmith.  Though the lighting does not allow for much detail to be visible, it does appear to have three horizontal bars (perhaps feathers like the flag above?) running across the first 1/3 of the flag nearest the pole.

This flag is one of my personal favorites: the flag of the Fauns.  In C. S. Lewis's original book, Mr. Tumnus is rather proud of his hooves: "she'll wave her wand over my beautiful cloven hoofs and turn them into horrid solid hoofs like a wretched horse's."  Apparently this pride is shared by most Fauns.

Another flag with the Faun motif.  This one has a distinctive swallowtail shape.

The Faun on the left of the picture carries a banner that is different from the other two above.  This one appears to have three tails.






 
This yellow flag appears in multiple places around Aslan's camp, as well as during the battle.








No one forgets a Dwarf and certainly not the propmakers!  The Dwarfish archers on the ridge have their own flag in matching colors with the rest of the army.  It bears their device of crossed hammers, reflecting their skill at smithcraft.

The flag behind this female Centaur looks like another angle of the Dwarf flag shown above, though detail is difficult to see.  The yellow hammer head is just visible behind the Centaur's forehead.

The female Centaurs themselves carry three red-and-yellow flags while positioned on the ridge behind Edmund.  They all have a yellow hoist edge (the edge nearest the pole) and a swallowtail-shaped red field.  Though detail is difficult to pick out, they appear to also bear the Centaurs' crossed-sword device.

Flags for Wargamers

It has been rather quiet here at DtL, for the author has been very busy with other things. Some of you may know that I run a small business, Through All Ages LLC.  Recently, Through All Ages has been creating flags for wargamers.  Many of my readers have come to this blog looking for historical military flags, of which there are a few recreations on my blog (to see all of them, go to: http://defendingthelegacy.blogspot.com/search/label/Flags).

Now my flag-making endeavors have moved to Wargame Vault.  Some are free (such as the 1745 Appin Stewart flag at the top of the post), and some are for sale (like the collection illustrated left, with flags of all Hesse-Kassell regiments deployed to North America 1776-1783).  Visit https://www.wargamevault.com/browse/pub/14586/Through-All-Ages-LLC to learn more.  And if you have a historical flag you would like to add to your armies, let me know and I will see what can be done...