Figures holding colours or flags...

[Blind Pew]

This is a great thread.
One thing for sure, they look great in miniature. Importantly, when one is painting a flag, you have to devote as much attention to that flag as you would to a figure of the same height. Or it will disappoint.

 

[OldTaff]

Quite a number of the figures we see holding flags/standards aloft are copied directly from paintings where the artist is capturing a dramatic moment. A moment only....I don't suppose for a minute the bearer was holding it up for very long. The fact that we are making a model of such a moment where the figure is going to hold a flag aloft for many years has always amused me. I imagine them cursing being taken out of their boxes........

Alan

 

[ivopreda]

Quite a number of the figures we see holding flags/standards aloft are copied directly from paintings where the artist is capturing a dramatic moment. A moment only....I don't suppose for a minute the bearer was holding it up for very long. The fact that we are making a model of such a moment where the figure is going to hold a flag aloft for many years has always amused me. I imagine them cursing being taken out of their boxes........

Alan

the single moment is THE moment... two examples of dynamic figures holding a captured flag

 

[Mirofsoft]

Second picture taken in autumn
Leaves falling on the flag, the cuirass, the saddlecloth ...

 

[valiant]

Thanks for pitching in with the comments on this thread, chaps, all very interesting thoughts, thanks. I think that we are dealing with a "moment in time" and there is no indication that the flag could or would ever be carried that way for any length of time! Just one passing further thought, though, which again, bugs me, (I know, I should get out more...!) is the casual grip some of these figures have on their flags...? If it is a "moment in time" and it is a huge effort to pick those flags up, surely they would be gripping it with far more determination and it would be in a much more balanced place, in order to compensate for the weight and unwieldiness.... or am I overthinking this...?!

 

[Nap]

A moment in time packed full of Adrenalin

Nap

 

[valiant]

....in which case, then Kev, surely the face would be contorted and the grip fierce......?

 

[OldTaff]

It pretty much is on the new 54mm Zouave by Troop 54...... As always, it's up to the painter to get some expression in the eyes.

Alan

 

[theBaron]

i think we are mixing the informations...

there were painted flags an embroidered flags... obviously they react to the wind differently...

The wind isn't the primary issue, the weight of the color and the staff is. The proposition is that even on a calm day, with little or no wind, it's practically impossible to hold a color aloft with one hand. Even a piece of silk that size, with painted decorations, on a long piece of oak or ash for a staff, is going to be heavy and unwieldy for one hnad. Adding wind into the equation makes it more difficult, of course.

To second Nap's post from the Osprey book, I'll add that there's a similar anecdote in the "British Army in North America, 1775-1783", that the ensigns had trouble holding the large colors aloft, given that they were often younger men.

But as we've noted, it academic. It's an argument about the Kaiser's beard, as the Germans say. It doesn't matter how difficult it was, a figure holding a color aloft with one hand makes for an exciting and dramatic picture.

Prost!
Brad