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United Kingdom: Army camp flags

Last modified: 2023-07-29 by rob raeside
Keywords: army | camp flag |
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Camp flags for units in the British army followed the same basic pattern, and consisted of the regimental badge (occupying about a third of the width) on a background of stripes of regimental pattern. Some examples that would have been used in Russia at about the time of the Russian Revolution are listed below. I don't know of a single source for camp flags. They are not part of Queen's (or King's) Regulations, but are made up by each individual regiment at their own whim. This information has been taken from various material in the Flag Institute Library, including a survey we did of Army flags in the 1970s, and material in my own collection. But I know it isn't the last word on the subject.

Royal Marine Light Infantry

The current Royal Marines camp flag is dark blue with red, yellow and green stripes - see http://www.flags.net/UNKG05.htm.

The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment)

The camp flag of the Royal Scots was dark blue over medium green over red in equal stripes.

The Royal Sussex Regiment

I don't know this one for certain - the colours of the flag would be dark blue and orange, but I'm not certain how they would be arranged.

The King's (Liverpool) Regiment

Dark blue with a narrow red central stripe (proportions around 3:2:3)

Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment

Plain medium green.

The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

Dark blue with a central stripe divided red over grass green (again, around 3:1:1:3) 

Middlesex Regiment

The colours of their flag were cherry red and yellow. The Expeditionary Force HQ used an arm badge of a white five-pointed star on a blue square. This might have appeared as a flag. 

Ian Sumner, 27 January 2002

The Highland Light Infantry

by David Prothero

Source: W.J.Gordon (1915)

Other regiments (without information about camp flags) involved in Russia at this time include:

The Hampshire Regiment
The East Surrey Regiment
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment).

David Prothero, 27 January 2002

Army Air Corps camp flag

This flag dark blue-light blue-dark blue with badge showing a rising eagle can be seen at http://www.flags.net/UNKG06.htm. A similar badge can be seen for the British AAC 1st Regiment at http://www.army.mod.uk/img/aac/1aacflag.gif.
Valentin Poposki, 5 December 2005

Camp Flag of Headquarters of the British Forces in Germany

[Camp Flag of Headquarters of the British Forces in Germany] image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 November 2019

The ratio is 1:2. The flag is a red over black of red horizontal triband, superimposed by a red shield, parted by a broad throughout blue Latin cross, superimposed by two golden (yellow)swords in saltire with their hilts to top.
The coat of arms seems to be the same like that one of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).
(see e.g.: Theo Biegler: Flaggenführung der Schiffe und Boote der deutschen Kriegsmarine nach der Kapitulation 1945“, pp.77-81, fig.5 on p.81, in "Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Vexillology", Zollikofen 1999
It is remarkable that the arms on the flag spotted had the colours as described in the proceedings, but the swords on the door plate had been white instead of yellow.
Source: I spotted this flag in Bielefeld in front of the Catterick Barracks on 17 August 2019
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 November 2019