Red coat, also referred to asredcoat orscarlet tunic, is a military garment formerly much used by most regiments of theBritish Army, so customarily that the term became a commonsynecdoche for the soldiers themselves.
The red coat was widely (though not exclusively) used by the infantry and some cavalry units of theBritish military plus theRoyal Marines, from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. The garment was also widely used by theBritish Colonial Auxiliary Forces and theBritish Indian Army during the same period. Though, by the 20th century, the red coat was abandoned for practical duties in favour ofkhaki by all British Empire military units, it continues to be used for ceremonialfull dress andmess dress uniforms in many countries of theCommonwealth of Nations.[1]
The usage of red coats by English soldiers dates back to theTudor period, when theYeomen of the Guard and theYeomen Warders were both equipped in the royal colours of theHouse of Tudor, red and gold. During theTudor conquest of Ireland and theWars of the Three Kingdoms, units of English soldiers were equipped in red coats, most notably theNew Model Army, which fought on theParliamentary side.[2][3][4]
From the mid-17th century to the 19th century, the uniform of most British soldiers (apart fromartillery,rifles and lightcavalry) included amadder red coat orcoatee. From 1873 onwards, the more vivid shade ofscarlet was adopted for all ranks, having previously been worn only byofficers,sergeants and all ranks of some cavalry regiments.[5]
There had been instances of red military clothing pre-dating its general adoption by theNew Model Army. The uniforms of theYeomen of the Guard and theYeomen Warders, both formed in 1485, have traditionally been inTudor red (representing the colour of theWelsh dragon) and gold.[6] TheGentlemen Pensioners ofKing James I wore red uniforms with yellow feathers in their hats.[7] At theBattle of Edgehill, the first battle of theEnglish Civil War,Royalist troops wore red coats, as did at least twoParliamentary regiments.[8] However, none of these examples constituted the national uniform that the red coat was later to become.[9]
During the reign of QueenElizabeth I, English infantry units in Ireland sometimes wore red clothing, which was noted by Irish commentators. As early as 1561, a battle between English and Irish forces was being referred by the Irish to as the "Battle of the Red Sagums" (Irish:Cath na gCasóga Dearga), on the accounts of the redsagums worn by the English troops.[2] Irish nobleman and soldierPhilip O'Sullivan Beare mentioned the battle in his 1621 history of theTudor conquest of Ireland, written in Latin inSpain. He described it as "that famous victory which is called 'of the red sagums' [illam victoriam quae dicitur 'sagorum rubrorum'] because among others who fell in battle were four hundred soldiers lately brought from England and clad in the red livery of theviceroy."[3]
In the same work, Beare mentioned two other engagements between Irish and English forces in which the latter wore red clothing. The first was an engagement in 1581 during theSecond Desmond Rebellion in which according to Beare "a company of English soldiers, distinguished by their dress and arms, who were called "red sagums" [Vestibus et armis insignis erat cohors Anglorum quae "Sagorum rubrorem" nominabantur], and being sent to war [in Ireland] by the Queen were overwhelmed near Lismore byJohn Fitzedmund Fitzgerald, the seneschal."[10] The second was a 1599 victory by forces underWilliam Burke, Lord of Bealatury over "English recruits clad in red sagums" (qui erant tyrones Angli sagis rubris induti).[11]
English sources confirm that royal troops in Ireland wore red uniforms. In 1584, theLord President of the Council informed the Sheriffs and Justices ofLancashire who were charged with raising 200 foot soldiers for service in Ireland that they should be furnished with "a cassocke of some motley, sad grene coller, or russett".[12] Seemingly, russet was chosen. Again, in the summer of 1595, the Lord DeputyWilliam Russell, writing toWilliam Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley about therelief of Enniskillen, mentioned that Irish rebelHugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone had "300 shot in red coats like English soldiers" – the inference being that English soldiers in Ireland were distinguished by their red uniforms.[13]
During theAnglo-Spanish War, English pike men and arquebusiersfighting with their Dutch ally were also clad in red cassocks.[14] This was noted during theSiege of Ostend, where 1,600 Englishman under the command of SirFrancis Vere arrived as reinforcements there in July 1601.[15] The 16th-century military historian Julius Ferretus stated that the reason behind the red uniform of the English soldiers was to conceal blood stains but this claim is questionable because blood does in fact show on red clothing as a black stain.[16]
The red coat evolved from being the British infantryman's normally worn uniform to a garment retained only for ceremonial purposes. Its official adoption dates from February 1645, when theParliament of England passed theNew Model Army ordinance. The new English Army was formed of 22,000 men, paper strength, comprising eleven regiments of cavalry each of 600 men for a total of 6,600, twelve regiments of infantry each of 1,200 men for a total of 14,400, and one regiment of 1,000 dragoons and theartillery, consisting of 900 men. The infantry regiments wore coats ofVenetian red with white, blue or yellow facings. A contemporary comment on the New Model Army dated 7 May 1645 stated: "the men are Redcoats all, the whole army only are distinguished by the several facings of their coats."[9][17]
Outside of Ireland or Britain, the English red coat made its first appearance on a European continental battlefield at theBattle of the Dunes in 1658. AProtectorate army had been landed atCalais the previous year and "every man had a new red coat and a new pair of shoes."[18] The name of the battle comes from the major engagement carried out by the "red-coats". To the surprise of continental observers they stormed sand-dunes 150 feet (46 m) high, fighting experienced Spanish soldiers from their summits with musket fire andpush of pike.[19][20]
The adoption and continuing use of red by most British/English soldiers afterThe Restoration (1660) was the result of circumstances rather than policy, including the relative cheapness of red dyes.[21] Another factor favouring red was that dyes of this colour were "fast" and less inclined to fade when exposed to weather.[22] Red was by no means universal at first, with grey and blue coats also being worn.[23]
Until 1784 all regular regiments of the British cavalry wore red coats, with the notable exception of TheRoyal Horse Guards ("The Blues"). In that year light dragoons were issued with new uniforms which included dark blue coats.[24] Red coats were also an exclusive feature of British regular infantry until the 1802 dress regulations announced the adoption of dark green by the newly raisedrifle regiments.[25]
Prior to 1707, colonels of regiments made their own arrangements for the manufacture of uniforms under their command. This ended when a royal warrant of 16 January 1707 established a Board of General Officers to regulate the clothing of the army. Uniforms supplied were to conform to the "sealed pattern" agreed by the board.[26] The style of the coat tended to follow those worn by other European armies. From an early stage red coats were lined with contrasting colours and turned out to provide distinctive regimentalfacings (lapels, cuffs and collars).[27] Examples were blue for the8th Regiment of Foot, green for the5th Regiment of Foot, yellow for the44th Regiment of Foot andbuff for the3rd Regiment of Foot.
In 1747, the first of a series of clothing regulations and royal warrants set out the various facing colours and distinctions to be borne by each regiment.[28] The long coat worn with a white or buff-colouredwaistcoat[29] was discontinued in 1797 in favour of a tight-fittingcoatee fastened with a single row of buttons, with white lace loops on either side.[30]
In the United States, "Redcoat" is associated in cultural memory with the British soldiers who fought against thePatriots during theAmerican Revolutionary War. TheLibrary of Congress possesses several examples of the uniforms the British Army used during this time.[31] Most soldiers who fought the Patriots wore the red coat, though someGerman auxiliaries and someLoyalist units had blue or green clothing.[32]
Accounts of the time usually refer to British soldiers as "Regulars"[33] or "the King's men". However, there is evidence of the term "red coats" being used informally, as acolloquial expression. During theSiege of Boston, on 4 January 1776, GeneralGeorge Washington used the term "red coats" in a letter toJoseph Reed.[34] In an earlier letter dated 13 October 1775, Washington used a variation of the expression, stating, "whenever the Redcoat gentry pleases to step out of their Intrenchments."[35] Major GeneralJohn Stark of the Continental Army was purported to have said during theBattle of Bennington (16 August 1777), "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!"[36]
Other pejorative nicknames for British soldiers included "bloody backs" (in a reference to both the colour of their coats and the use offlogging as a means of punishment for military offences) and "lobsters", most notably in Boston around the time of theBoston Massacre.[37] The earliest reference to the association with thelobster appears in 1740, just before theFrench and Indian War.[31][failed verification]
Following the discomfort experienced by troops in theCrimean War, a more practicaltunic was introduced in 1855, initially in the Frenchdouble-breasted style, but replaced by asingle-breasted version in the following year.[38] An attempt at standardisation was made following theChilders Reforms of 1881, with English and Welsh regiments having white facings (collar and cuffs), Scottish yellow, Irish green and Royal regiments dark blue. However some regiments were subsequently able to obtain the reintroduction of historicfacing colours that had been uniquely theirs.[39][40]
British soldiers fought in scarlet and blue uniforms for the last time at theBattle of Gennis in the Sudan on 30 December 1885. They formed part of an expeditionary force sent from Britain to participate in theNile Campaign of 1884–85, wearing the home service uniform of the period.[41] This included scarlet "frocks" (plain jackets in harder-wearing material designed for informal wear[42]) as part of their active service uniform[43] although some regiments sent from India were inkhaki drill.[44] A small detachment of infantry which reachedKhartoum by steamer on 28 January 1885 were ordered to fight in their red coats in order to let theMahdist rebels know that thereal British forces had arrived.[45]
Even after the adoption ofkhakiService Dress in 1902, most Britishinfantry regiments (81 out of 85) and somecavalry regiments (12 out of 31)[46] continued to wear scarlet tunics on parade and for off-duty "walking out dress", until the outbreak of theFirst World War in 1914.[47] While nearly all technical and support branches of the army wore dark blue, theRoyal Engineers had worn red since thePeninsular War in order to draw less fire when serving amongst red-coated infantry.[48]
Scarlet tunics ceased to be general issue upon British mobilisation in August 1914. TheBrigade of Guards resumed wearing their scarlet full dress in 1920, but for the remainder of the army red coats were only authorised for wear by regimental bands and officers inmess dress or on certain limited social or ceremonial occasions (notably attendance at court functions or weddings).[49][50][51] The reason for not generally reintroducing the distinctive full dress was primarily financial, as the scarlet cloth requires expensivecochinealdye dyed in the grain of the cloth by old-fashioned methods.[52]
As late as 1980, consideration was given to the reintroduction of scarlet as a replacement for the dark blue "No. 1 dress" and khaki "No. 2 dress" of the modernBritish Army, using cheaper and fadeless chemical dyes instead of cochineal. Surveys of serving soldiers' opinion showed little support for the idea and it was shelved.[53]
Red and scarlet uniforms were widely worn by British organised or allied forces during the Imperial period. This included thepresidency armies of theEast India Company from 1757 onwards (along with the succeedingBritish Indian Army),[54] andcolonial units from Canada.[55]
Red coats were first worn by British sea-going regiments when adopted by the Prince of Denmark's Regiment in 1686.[56] Thereafter red coatees became the normal parade and battle dress for marine infantry, although the staining effects of salt spray meant that white fatigue jackets and subsequently blue undress tunics were often substituted for shipboard duties. TheRoyal Marine Artillery wore dark blue from their creation in 1804. The scarlet full-dress tunics of theRoyal Marine Light Infantry were abolished in 1923 when the two branches of the Corps were amalgamated and dark blue became the universal uniform colour for both ceremonial and ordinary occasions.[57] Scarlet for the Royal Marines now (2021) survives only in themess uniform jackets of officers and senior NCOs.[58]
The scarlet tunic has been retained as thefull dress,band ormess uniforms by several armed forces of theCommonwealth of Nations. These include theAustralian,British,Canadian,Fijian,Ghanaian,Indian,Jamaican,Kenyan,New Zealand,Pakistani,Singaporean, andSri Lankan armies.[59]
Use of the scarlet tunic originates with theCanadian Militia, amilitia raised to support the British Army inBritish North America, as well as the Canadian government followingConfederation in 1867. Present dress regulations relating to the scarlet tunic originated from a simplified system ordered by the sovereign in 1902, and later promulgated in the Canadian Militia Dress Regulations 1907 and Militia Order No. 58/1908.[60] The dress regulations, including the scarlet tunic, were maintained after the Canadian Militia was reorganized into theCanadian Army in 1940.
The Canadian Army's universal full dress uniform includes a scarlet tunic.[60] Although scarlet is the primary colour of the tunic, itspiping is white, and the unit'sfacing colours appear on the tunic's collar, cuffs, andshoulder straps.[60] The universal design also features atrefoil-shapedAustrian knot embroidered atop the facing on the tunic's cuff.[60] The variation of the scarlet tunic is also worn by cadets of theRoyal Military College of Canada.[61] However, some units in the Canadian Army are authorized regimental differences from the Army's universal full dress. As a result, some armoured regiments and artillery units substitute dark blue,Canadian-Scottish regiments "archer green", and allrifle/Voltigeur regiments "rifle green" for scarlet tunics as a part of their full dress.
In addition to the full dress uniform, a scarlet-coloured mess jacket is a part of the authorizedmess dress for members of the Canadian Army.[61] Several other Canadian uniforms are also derived from the scarlet tunic. Members of the City of Toronto Honour Guard, a group of veterans that are employed in the local civil service, wear a scarlet tunic based onGovernor General's Foot Guards.[62] The dress uniform of theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police, a federallaw enforcement agency, also incorporates elements of a red coat, referred to as theRed Serge.
During the 19th century, several volunteer militias in New Zealand wore a variety of scarlet, dark blue, or green tunics, closely following the contemporary uniforms of the British Army. Presently however, theNew Zealand Army Band and the Officer Cadet School are the only units of the New Zealand Army that use the scarlet tunic as part of their ceremonial full dress uniforms.
In addition to full dress, the standard mess dress for the New Zealand Army includes a scarlet jacket with dark blue/black lapels.[63]
The scarlet tunic remains in the current British Army Dress Regulations. It is one of three coloured tunics used by the British Army; alongside dark green tunics (used byThe Rifles andRoyal Gurkha Rifles), and dark blue tunics (used by several units, such as theRoyal Artillery). The scarlet tunic is presently used as part of the full dress uniforms for theLife Guards and several other cavalry units, theFoot Guards, theRoyal Engineers,line infantry regiments,generals, and most army staff officers of the British Army.[64] The locally recruitedRoyal Gibraltar Regiment also uses a scarlet tunic as part of its winter ceremonial dress.
In addition, the scarlet tunic is still used by some regimental bands ordrummers for ceremonial purposes.Officers andNCOs of those regiments which previously wore red retain scarlet as the colour of their "mess" or formal evening jackets. Some regiments turn out small detachments, such as colour guards, in scarlet full dress at their own expense, e.g. theYorkshire Regiment before amalgamation.
TheHonourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, theMilitary Knights of Windsor and theYeoman of the Guard, are ceremonial units known as theSovereign's Bodyguard. The first two wear an early 19th century scarlet officer tunic when performing ceremonial tasks. The Yeomen wear a scarlet frock of Tudor style.
From the modern perspective, the retention of a highly conspicuous colour such as red for active service appears inexplicable and foolhardy, regardless of how striking it may have looked on the parade ground. However, in the days of themusket (a weapon of limited range and accuracy) andblack powder, battle field visibility was quickly obscured by clouds of smoke. Bright colours provided a means of distinguishing friend from foe without significantly adding risk. Furthermore, the vegetable dyes used until the 19th century would fade over time to a pink or ruddy-brown, so on a long campaign in a hot climate the colour was less conspicuous than the modern scarlet shade would be.[65] As formal battles of the time commonly involved deployment in columns and lines, the individual soldier was not likely to be a target by himself.
There is no universally accepted explanation as to why the British wore red. As noted above, the 16th century military historian Julius Ferretus asserted that the colour red was favoured because of the supposedly demoralising effect of blood stains on a uniform of a lighter colour.[66]
In his bookBritish Military Uniforms (Hamylyn Publishing Group 1968), the military historian W. Y. Carman traces in considerable detail the slow evolution of red as the English soldier's colour, from the Tudors to the Stuarts. The reasons that emerge are a mixture of financial (cheaper red, russet or crimson dyes), cultural (a growing popular sense that red was the sign of an English soldier),[67] and simple chance (an order of 1594 is that coats "be of such colours as you can best provide").
Before theTudor period, red frequently appeared in the clothlivery provided for the household personnel—including guard troops—of many European royal houses and Italian or Churchprincipalities. Red or purple had provided a rich distinction for senior clerics through the Middle Ages in the hierarchy of colours distinguishing theRoman Church.
During theEnglish Civil War red dyes were imported in large quantities for use by units and individuals of both sides, though this was the beginning of the trend for long overcoats. The ready availability of red pigment made it popular for military clothing, and the dying process required for red involved only one stage. Other colours required the mixing of dyes in two stages and accordingly involved greater expense; blue, for example, could be obtained withwoad, but more popularly it became the much more expensiveindigo. In financial terms the only cheaper alternative was the grey-white of undyed wool—an option favoured by the French, Austrian, Spanish and other Continental armies.[68] The formation of the first English standing army (ParliamentarianNew Model Army in 1645) saw red clothing as the standard dress. As Carman comments, "The red coat was now firmly established as the sign of an Englishman."[69]
On traditional battlefields with large engagements, visibility was not considered a military disadvantage until the general adoption ofrifles in the 1850s, followed bysmokeless powder after 1880. The value of drab clothing was quickly recognised by the British Army, who introducedkhaki drill for Indian and colonial warfare from the mid-19th century on. As part of a series of reforms following theSecond Boer War (which had been fought in this inconspicuous clothing of Indian origin), a darker khaki serge was adopted in 1902 for service dress in Britain itself.[70] From then on, the red coat continued as a dress item only, retained for reasons both of national sentiment and its value in recruiting. The British military authorities were more practical in their considerations than their French counterparts, who incurred heavy casualties by retaining highly visible blue coats andred trousers for active service[71] until several months intoWorld War I.[72]
The epithet "redcoats" is familiar throughout much of the former British Empire, even though this colour was by no means exclusive to the British Army. The entireDanish Army wore red coats up to 1848,[73] and particular units in theGerman,French,Austro-Hungarian,Russian,Bulgarian andRomanian armies retained red uniforms until 1914 or later. Amongst other diverse examples, Spanishhussars,Japanese Navy[74] andUnited States Marine Corps bandsmen, andSerbian generals had red tunics as part of their gala or court dress[75] during this period. In 1827 United States Artillery company musicians were wearing red coats as a reversal of their branch facing colour.[76] However the extensive use of this colour by British, Indian and other Imperial soldiers over a period of nearly three hundred years made red uniform a veritable icon of theBritish Empire. The significance of military red as a national symbol was endorsed by KingWilliam IV (reigned 1830–1837) when light dragoons andlancers had scarlet jackets substituted for their previous dark blue, hussars adopted redpelisses, and even theRoyal Navy were obliged to adopt red facings instead of white.[77] Most of these changes were reversed underQueen Victoria (1837–1901). A red coat and blacktricorne remains part of the ceremonial and out-of-hospital dress forin-pensioners at theRoyal Hospital Chelsea.
Whether scarlet or red, the uniform coat has historically been made ofwool, with a lining of loosely woven wool known as bay to give shape to the garment. The modern scarlet wool is supplied byAbimelech Hainsworth and is much lighter in weight than the traditional material, which was intended for hard wear on active service.[68]
The cloth for private soldiers used up until the late 18th century was plain weavebroadcloth weighing 16 ounces per square yard (540 g/m2), made from coarser blends of English wool. The weights often quoted in contemporary documents are given perrunning yard, though; so for a cloth of 54 inches (140 cm) width a yard weighed 24 ounces (680 g). This sometimes leads to the erroneous statement that the cloth weighed 24 oz persquare yard.
Broadcloth is so called not because it is finished wide, 54 inches not being particularly wide, but because it was woven nearly half as wide again and shrunk down to finish 54 inches. This shrinking, or milling, process made the cloth very dense, bringing all the threads very tightly together, and gave a feltedblind finish to the cloth. These factors meant that it was harder-wearing, more weatherproof and could take a raw edge; the hems of the garment could be simply cut and left without hemming as the threads were so heavily shrunk together as to prevent fraying.
Officers' coats were made fromsuperfine broadcloth; manufactured from much finer imported Spanish wool, spun finer and with more warps and wefts per inch. The result was a slightly lighter cloth than that used for privates, still essentially a broadcloth and maintaining the characteristics of that cloth, but slightly lighter and with a much finer quality finish. The dye used for privates' coats of the infantry, guard and line, wasrose madder. A vegetable dye, it was recognised as economical, simple and reliable and remained the first choice for lower quality reds from the ancient world until chemical dyes became cheaper in the latter 19th century.
Infantry sergeants, some cavalry regiments and many volunteer corps (which were often formed from prosperous middle-class citizens who paid for their own uniforms) used variousmock scarlets; a brighter red but derived from cheaper materials than thecochineal used for officers' coats. Various dye sources were used for these middle quality reds, butlac dye, extracted from a kind of scale insect "lac insects" which produce resin shellac, was the most common basis.
The noncommissioned officer's red coat issued under the warrant of 1768 was dyed with a mixture of madder-red and cochineal to produce a "lesser scarlet"; brighter than the red worn by other ranks but cheaper than the pure cochineal dyed garment purchased by officers as a personal order from military tailors.[78] Officers' superfine broadcloth was dyed true scarlet withcochineal, a dye derived from insects. This was a more expensive process but produced a distinctive colour that was the speciality of 18th-century English dyers.
The most notable centre for dying "British scarlet" cloth wasStroud inGloucestershire, which also dyed cloth for many foreign armies. An 1823 recipe for dying 60pounds (lbs) - about 27 kg - of military woollen cloth lists: 1 lb of cochineal, 3 lbs madder, 6 lbs argol (potassium tartrate), 3 lbsalum, 4 pints tin liquor (stannous chloride), 6 lbs cudbear (orcein) and two buckets of urine. The alum, argol and tin liquor, which acted asmordants or dye fixatives, were boiled together for half an hour, and the madder and cochineal were added for another ten minutes. The cloth was added and boiled for two hours; after that, the cloth was drained and immersed in cudbear and urine for another two hours. The cloth was stretched out to dry ontenters, then finally brushed withteasels and tightly rolled to produce a sheen.[79]
During the 18th and much of the nineteenth centuries the cheaply made coats of other ranks in the British army were produced by a variety of contractors, using the laborious process of dyeing described above. Accordingly, even when new, batches of garments sent to regiments might be issued in different shades of red. This tendency towards variations in appearance, commented on by contemporary observers, would subsequently be compounded by weather bleaching and soaking.[80])
Although the termred coat is most often associated with British soldiers in the English language, several other armed forces have used red-coloured coats as a part of their uniform.
The termredshirts was also used in mid-19th century Italy to refer to volunteers who followedGiuseppe Garibaldi during theunification of Italy. However, the termredshirt is derived from the red shirts or loose-fitting blouses worn by volunteers, as opposed to a specific piece of military garment.
Several military forces have used red-coloured coats in the past. The combinedDenmark–Norway army wore red uniforms from the 17th century to the union's dissolution in 1814. A number of Danish Army infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments continued to wear red coats from 1814 to 1848, when they were replaced by dark blue service tunics. Members of theParaguayan Army also wore red-coloured coats during theWar of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870).[81] Members of theRoyal Burmese Armed Forces were also recorded to have worn western-style red-coloured uniforms during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Certain specific military units have also historically worn red-coloured coats. TheRoyal Polish Guards of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, wore a red cloth jacket with white lapels and a blue or turquoise vest, and a red coat made of wool during the winter season.[82] The line infantry regiments of the Army of thePapal States were characterised by red coats and breeches during the 1730s.[83] During theVenezuelan War of Independence, theEjército Libertador (Army of Liberation) adopted the redhussar cavalry uniforms used by theBritish Legions' Company of Honor Guard forSimón Bolívar. Prior to World War I, officers of thePrussian Army's Guard Cuirassier Regiment wore scarlet tunics as part of their gala uniform for court functions.[84]
Several French Army units have also historically worn red-coloured coats, including theIrish Brigade (1690–1792), who supposedly wore red-coloured coats to show their origins and continued loyalty to the cause ofJacobitism; andSwiss mercenary regiments in the French Army, including theSwiss Guards, from the mid-17th to early 19th centuries. The French North Africanspahi regiments also wore madder-redzouave style jackets until their disbandment in 1962.[85]
Several military units continue to use a red-coloured coat as a part of their ceremonial uniform. In Europe, red-coloured coats are still used by the DanishRoyal Life Guards,[86] and theGarderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene of theRoyal Netherlands Army. The latter unit's red-coloured tunics are derived from British style red coats, in commemoration of the unit's foundation in exile in the United Kingdom during World War II.[87]
Several South American units continue to wear red-coloured coats for ceremonial purposes, including theBrazilian Marine Corps, and theBolivian Colorados Regiment (colorados meaning red in the Spanish language). SeveralVenezuelan Army units also use a red-coloured coat as a part of their parade uniforms, including thePresidential Honor Guard,[88] theCompañia de Honor "24 de Junio" (Company of Honor "24 de Junio")[89] and theBolivarian Militia of Venezuela.[90][91]
Red-coloured coats also see some use in Asia, providing part of a unit's ceremonial uniform. The ceremonial honour guard uniform for themilitary of Myanmar includes red tunics. In Indonesia, a detachment from thePresidential Security Force of Indonesia (Paspampres) Honour guards wears red tunics as part of their full dress.
Members of the United States ArmyOld Guard Fife and Drum Corps,United States Marine Band and theUnited States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps wear red coats for performances at theWhite House and elsewhere. This is a rare survival of the common 18th-century practice of having military bandsmen wear coats in reverse colors to the rest of a given unit. (United States Marines wear dark blue (almost black in appearance) tunics with red piping, so United States Marine bandsmen wear red tunics with dark blue piping.)
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{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)No part of the Cloathing or Ornaments of the Regiments to be altered, after the following Regulations are put into execution by His Majesty's permission.