Flags for the Irish Brigade II

Below are the flags I created in Photoshop for my latest Irish Regt. They are another 2 of the 12 flags listed by Reid in "Scots Armies of the C17th. III: The Royalist Armies, 1639-46" (Partizan Press). Descriptions of all 12 of the Irish colours, including the latin motto with translation are also included in "The English Emblematic Tradition (3): Emblematic Flag Devices of the English Civil Wars, 1642-1660" by Alan R. Young (Ed.). This excellent tome can also be previewed online at Google Books. I was lucky enough to pick up a good copy of this book a few years back and if you can get it for a decent price, it is a must for all civil war flag-o-philes.

Most of the 12 colours described, including these two, have overt catholic imagery, and latin religious mottos, both features that would have horrified the zealous presbyterian Scottish citizenry of the time. All of the colours are thought to have featured a red saltire on a yellow field in the canton, and the Royal Crown and cypher (CR), together with the latin motto "Vivat Carolus Rex", or "long-live King Charles".

The first colour is a blue sheet with "the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus in her arms, and with her heels trampling on a serpent's head". The motto on this sheet is "CUNCTAS HARESES INTEREMIST", which translates as "Thou hast overcome all heresies".

The second is a white sheet, with "an armed man setting fire to John Calvin's book Institutes". The book is inscribed "Calv:Instit". The motto on this sheet is "SIC PEREUNT HARESES", which translates as "Thus Heresies Perish". The motto is incorrect in Reid's book, but I had made the flags before I discovered about the error, so my flag reads "SIO PEREUNT HARESES". Easily fixed with a dab of white paint or pixels.

I did not intentionally select the two flags containing latin tirades against heresies, but it's safe to say, this unit does not like heretics.

Both flags were made in photoshop, and printed on good quality paper. They were subsequently entirely re-painted, to give them the hand-painted look. They were cut out, folded and glued to a 6 cm steel pin using superglue. The paper fold was then glued together using a glue stick. The flag was then cut to give a torn and ragged campaign look, and folded by rolling gently around a paint brush handle while the glue is still wet.

I have more Irish Flags ready for MacColla's Lifegaurd and will share these once the unit is ready. The two flags for my first Irish unit can be found here.