Enhancements to Miniatures: Battle Colors by Brady Severns

Disclaimer: These images were created by Brady Severns and represent a free sample of a more complete package of images. If you are interested in the more complete set, please contact him directly via email at bradyseverns@earthlink.net.

Introduction
The attempt with this set was to provide players with the chance to add a little more visual appeal to their Battle Cry game sessions. Especially those who go through the effort of painting their figures. These flags are modeled after actual flags and flag patterns, but no attempt has been made to identify the flags of specific units beneath the corps and theater level.

Sources
Arms and Equipment of The Civil War, by Jack Coggins, reprint 1990. Broadfoot Publishing Company.
Civil War Flags to Color, Dr. Whitney Smith and Nancy Conkle, 1990. Bellerophon Books.

Basic Instructions
The four images are 266 dpi JPEGs and are scaled to fit on Battle Cry flag pieces. You should be able to place the files in your favorite illustration or layout program and print directly from there. To attach your flags, trim them out and coat the backside with a 1:1::white glue:water mixture, then fold around the staff and meet the ends. Let the glue set a bit and then give the flag a gentle shaping twist to recreate an unseen breeze. If one goes bad, you can always make another.

Four printouts of each of the battle flags and one printout of each of the leader flags will be enough to redecorate a game set. If you are careful, you may be able to work the old flags off the figures without mangling them too badly for use in other games or as objective markers for DYO Battle Cry scenarios.

USA Army Flags

US National Battle Flag 1 US Infantry Regimental Flag US National Battle Flag 2 US Artillery Regimental Flag US Cavalry Guidon

USA Battle Flags USA Artillery Flags USA Cavalry Guidons

There was no authorized pattern for the stars and units were free to arrange them in the canton as they wished so long as they represented the proper number of states in the Union. Typically, Union regiments carried both the national and regimental colors into battle. Sometimes a flag representing the home state was carried as well. Some Heavy Artillery regiments were also sent into battle as infantry and carried their regimental flags with them. The size of Union infantry battle flags was authorized to be 6'x6.' Guidons were much smaller and sometimes the poles were fitted for attachment to rifle barrels.

USA Army Leaders

Ambrose Burnside's HQ Flag 15th Corp HQ Flag Hancock's 1st Veteran Army Corp. HQ

USA Regimental Flags

The Union had many different flags for their Division, Corps, and Army HQs. These were the more notable ones.

CSA Army Flags

Hardee-pattern Battle Flag (Western Theater) 13-star St. Andrews-style Battle Flag Gold Star Battle Flag CSA Battle Flag (Eastern Theater) CSA Cavalry Guidon

CSA Battle Flags CSA Battle Flags 2 CSA Cavalry Guidons

Confederate infantry battle flags were generally square. The classic CSA battle flag used in the Eastern Theater was authorized to be 4'x4'. Artillery and Cavalry battle flags were much smaller. In these sets, the Confederate battle flags are the same size as the Union ones for the sake of visibility. The Hardee-style pattern was most frequently seen with the Army of Tennessee-- even after the CSA adopted the Eastern pattern as the standard CSA battle flag. Various state flags were also used in battle.

CSA Army Leaders

CSA 13 Stars and Bars CSA National Flag ("Blooded Banner") Trans-Mississippi Theater (Van Dorn's HQ)

CSA State Flags

The CSA national flag underwent many changes. The original Stars and Bars pattern was thought too similar to the US National flag and was changed to a white field with a CSA battle flag in the canton. The Blooded Banner shown here was adopted in 1865 because the intermediate flag just described (remove the red bar along the fly) looked too much like a flag of surrender. General Van Dorn and his units used the third pattern in campaigns along the Mississippi River.