Huguenot Flags – Any ideas?

[Whirlwind]

Does anyone have any ideas what the flags of Huguenot regiments fighting against Louis XIV (in the WSS, 9YW, or earlier) in one of the Allied armies might have looked like?  Or can suggest a possible symbol?

[Hwiccee]

The excellent Hall books on the Dutch army has speculative flags for 2 units in the WSS – Vicouse and Lisle Marais.

This says the flags depicted are –

“The flag shown is based on a reconstruction by August Kühn. His source, which
we do not know, described the flags as “black with white crosses and the
emblems of the Maritime Powers paying for the regiment.””

and –

“Based on a statement (source unknown) that the Huguento regiments had black
flags with white crosses and the emblems of the country which supported the
regiment, August Kühn made a series of reconstructions which, as far as we can
ascertain, are plausible though I suspect the references to “white crosses” would
mean crosses of the type used as a sign by the Huguentos rather than the French
cross of Saint Denis used by Kühn. We offer our version here.]”

They show a French style flag with a white cross and the 4 corners are black. On top of this are various designs.

This is likely to be the best you will get as Kuhn and Hall are easily the most accurate thing available.

I hope this helps.

[Steve Johnson]

I’m pretty sure David has done some flags here, so worth checking:

https://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/

[willz]

These books may have what you are looking for.  I think there are several more in this range?

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[Tony Hughes]

A white cross on black is the Cornish flag, reputed to have a long ancestry but with quite sketchy evidence for its actual use in the distant past. Also sometimes said to be a flag used by Bretons (not surprising as the populations are related).

It is also the flag used by the French regiment Piedmont which, it seems to me, makes it an unlikely choice if one had the French army as an enemy.

Horizontal coloured stripes in various colours on a white background were used by a number of armies around the time of Elizabeth I and probably later. They are said to have been a declaration of ‘Protestant’ affiliation and sometimes also show a cross (usually white or red) and/or personal emblem of a commander. As far as I can remember these designs appear in paintings and their attribution as Protestant emblems may be a later interpretation.

Having tried to ascertain flags for Huguenot units in Ireland and failed to get any measure of certainty in answers I wish you luck in finding answers. As said above, if Hall can only find conjectural designs, I’m not likely to get very far.

Tony of TTT

 

[Hwiccee]

Tony Hughes wrote:

A white cross on black is the Cornish flag, reputed to have a long ancestry but with quite sketchy evidence for its actual use in the distant past. Also sometimes said to be a flag used by Bretons (not surprising as the populations are related).

It is also the flag used by the French regiment Piedmont which, it seems to me, makes it an unlikely choice if one had the French army as an enemy.

Having tried to ascertain flags for Huguenot units in Ireland and failed to get any measure of certainty in answers I wish you luck in finding answers. As said above, if Hall can only find conjectural designs, I’m not likely to get very far. Tony of TTT

To be clear the Hall flags have the black & white ‘French style’ background and then lot of other stuff on top – the Dutch coat of arms, mottos, other motifs/emblems and possibly the colonel’s coat of arms.

I agree on Hall. If he doesn’t know then you are going to need a lot of luck & I don’t the other books suggested, which are basically dumbed down versions of Hall, are not likely to help.

[Whirlwind]

Many thanks all for your help, much appreciated.

[OB]

Here Whirlwind, you can find a selection of them from Ray.  Scroll down.

https://onelover-ray.blogspot.com/search/label/NYW%20flags

Also look at Barry Hilton’s shop under flags.

OB
http://withob.blogspot.co.uk/

[Whirlwind]

Oh, there are some great ideas in there, very many thanks!

[Author]

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