I am in debt for this improvement to Msr. Lluís Vilalta who had it implemented in his excellent blog Defiant Principality, making both for an easier navigation and a quick resource finding.
For now I've introduced the flags page with a post on the Colonel's Colours of the army of Catalàunia. I'm doubtful about which one to choose and I thought any feedback would be helpful. It sure will be appreciated.
Com podeu veure si mireu sota el títol del blog, ha aparegut una nova barra de navegació que enllaça directament a pàgines noves del blog. Ho he fet així per tal de no sobrecarregar la pàgina principal amb entrades amb gràfics grossos o abundants ni massa textos. De forma que sempre es pot mirar una pàgina diferent per a trobar banderes o uniformes o saber sobre qui parlo a una entrada determinada.
Estic en deute per aquesta millora amb Msr. Lluís Vilalta, qui ho havia implementat al seu excel·lent bloc Defiant Principality, aconseguint una navegació més fàcil i rapidesa en trobar recursos.
Per ara he estrenat la pàgina de les banderes amb una entrada sobre les Banderes Coroneles de les tropes de Catalàunia. Dubto sobre quina escollir i he cregut que qualsevol informació seria d'ajut. Segur que serà agraït.
I'll at leisure before commenting, most are good, appropriate and pleasant, though the last one really looks merely 'English' without any hint of Occitan nature.
ResponEliminaBut firstly, at least on my browser and Mac, the text in black on a dark blue background (English from the X of St Georges down to PS) is practically impossible to read...
My fault; I realized it after publishing and latr I corrected it; it shoukd be readable now. Praise you for trying to read it altogether; I did not, just checked the code and corrected it.
ResponEliminaI agree on the last one, but (you could not read it), as I said, "the Saint George's Cross (patron Saint to Catalàunia), the Cross has been sported by Catalan troops since medieval times and it's representative of the Catalan government". So it is a Catalan symbol too. I think it even predates as far as I know English use of the cross which, as you pointed elsewhere, was done by the Hundred Years War after seemingly have worn white crosses...
But I agree, it looks plain for its time. I think the addition of the coat of arms really liven it up for a military banner. Shortly, the decision is to be made between the first two as the next is to be proprietary of the 1st IR, the Guard Grenadiers.
Tomorrow (or later if I get to do it) the Regimental Colours will be displayed. Only two of such Colours are in doubt. I hope you like them!
I confess that the 3rd still looks 'English' to my uneducated eyes: for the Colonel's Colours common to most infantry regiments the 2nd looks far more explicitly / unambiguously 'Catalunian' (?).
ResponEliminaThe 1st also is very beautiful, but without the red cross (and even more with the cross in 'white on white') it looks more like the Drapeau Colonel of a foreign regiment in French service (Régiment de Catalugne? Line infantry and not 'Miquelets', unfortunately, since Lights Troops, not being under the administrative authority of the Colonel General de l'Infantrie, did not have Drapeaux Colonels).
So I vote for the 2nd...
Yes, the second is a winner for now. Although the first is really pretty, I agree. Maybe the first could be for Militia units (paid for by municipal and regional authorities) and the second for the standing army (paid for by the General Deputation which is the government of the nation and which happens to have the St. George cross as its traditional symbol). It looks sound to go this way.
ResponEliminaI've redone the page and published new entries in the main blog as you will see. I found I could not use it as a mini-blog (oops) so I'll put the definitive stuff there and everything else here.
So you'll see a post with the Colonel's Colours right here, and one with a Scottish unit Colonel's Colours (just could not help myself to do it).
Finally, Miquelets will be under army administration in Catalàunia so they will get standards of their own. It will be a nice change to see a black embroidered flag as a Regimental one. And one such unit could be made of Southern France refugees... ;)
In the 18th C. a regiment of (descendants of) exiled Camisards would pose no more ethical / political problems than a Regiment de Catalugne. Indeed both may exist at the same time, every country has its discontents ('loyalists' to Philip, in Catalaunia? Such go to exile after losing a civil war, and France / Poictesme is the closer 'Bourbon' country).
ResponEliminaFor the Swiwss in enemy armies the convention was that they don't have to face each other directly, but other countries were more relaxed and the Wild Geese had no qualms fighting the British regiments at Fontenoy.
Jealous nationalism / patriotism did not exist yet -they were to appear with the Revolutionary Wars.
French (or Latin as a second choice) was the common tongue of all 'educated' people in whole Continental Europe, giving a kind of 'cultural internationalism'. Artists, philosophers, poets... came at will to the Court best recognizing (and remunerating) their talent, and nobody thought to fault them for that.
For professional soldiers, the situation was exactly the same as for to-day professional football players (except for the obscene income!).
It's perfectly normal for a French player to sign with an English club -and to have to play against French teams: nobody judges, resents him as a 'traitor'. And since players pass from to club, the adversaries of to-day may well be his team partners of to-morrow.
This attitude applied even after that bloody civil war of the "45. After Culloden, those prisoners of British or Irish birth who had fought on Prince Charlie's side while *in the service of the French King* were not seen and treated as 'rebels' or 'traitor's, but as respectable prisoners of war.
Other times indeed...
Yes indeed having a "Bourbon Catalan" enemy regiment would make for interesting encounters as Catalans, like Irish would not have any problem in engaging Catalans in enemy service (any of both sides). Saying that, having a Catalan unit of preference for Camisard refugees is a nice idea too...
ResponEliminaAnd I've already thought of a French born or descended Catalan commander "a la Berwick/Galway", a certain d'Hauteville...
"Bourbon Catalan" regiment(s) in the service of Gallia, Poictesme or even Hispania is / are perfectly compatible with a / two Camisard regiment(s) in Catalaunian service! Such quid pro quo 'exchanges' were not rare; would increase the diversity of quite different, yet somehow related (combination of colors, details of flags) uniforms and banners :)
ResponElimina