Prussia: Line infantry pre-1806 pattern; Type "E", unique to I.R. No.19
Prussia: Line infantry pre-1806 pattern; Type "F", carried only by I.R. No.'s 18 and 56
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Prussia: Line infantry pre-1806 pattern; Type "G", unique to I.R.
No.34
Prussia: Line infantry pre-1806 pattern; Type "H" unique to I.R.
No. 46
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Prussian Flags & Standards
The Infantry Standards (Cont'd)
The majority of sources consulted state that the Leibfahne was of the same design as the Regimentersfahne but with the colours of the field and the cross reversed, and generally speaking this is borne out in TABLE A through D. However, Heer und Tradition Plate XXIV shows Liebfahnen carried during the period 1740-1806 which have a spiky, possibly, palm branch, type of central and corner wreath: (See: Figure 2). Pengel makes no mention of different forms of wreath when describing mid-18th century flags: he has consulted several German works not seen by me. Lacking any information to the contrary, at present it may be assumed that at least some of the pre-1808 issue Leibfahnen may have had such wreaths. Heer und Tradition Plate VI also shows this type of wreath on the flag of I.R. No.15, 1st Battalion Leibgarde; (See: illustration Type I).
The flags were 140cm on the stave three meters long with a spearhead-shaped finial which was normally gilt. The finial was pierced by the crowned royal cypher, exactly as it appears on the corners of the flags but minus the wreath. There was no cravat, but silver cords with black threads intermingled were knotted below the finial and ended in tassels. It would appears the majority of staves were of unpainted wood (they are variously described as light brown, bright brown, reddish brown etc.) Exceptions were I.R. No.6, yellow; I.R. No.15, white; I.R. No.45, black. According to Pengel, in the 1756-86 period a number of regiments had black or white staves. In fact, from his list (based on an article by Dr. Blechween) it would seem that Regiments 1 - 10 may all have had light brown staves; 11 - 20 dark brown; 21 - 30 black; and at least 31 to 49 white, though this is mostly speculation on my part.
**LF=Leibfahne - RF=Regimentersfahne
* But blue background to corner cyphers
The great majority of the flags described above were lost in the 1806 campaign (some 340 infantry and cavalry flags were taken) and the new pattern of 1808 was therefore prdominant in the later years, although some of the pre-1807 issue which had been saved were reissued. Under the regulations of November 27th, 1807, the new issue was two per Musketeer battalion, but no flags were issued to the Grenadier or Fusilier battalions. However, by 1812 Grenadier battalions were carrying flags and the fusiliers of the Garde-Grenadiers received flags in 1814.
  
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