Troop Standard of English Royal Regiment of Horse 1685

First raised 1650 as a Cromwellian regiment of horse. Transferred to royal service on the restoration of Charles II in 1660; became the Earl of Oxford's Regiment in 1661, later called the Oxford Blues in contrast to the red coated Life Guards. In 1685 it was part of James II's army that defeated Monmouth's Rebellion. In 1688 it was part of William III's army and it fought in Ireland at the Boyne after fighting in Flanders at the battle of Walcourt. It did not serve abroad until the War of the Austrian Succession where it fought at Dettingen in 1743 and Fontenoy in 1745, suffering heavy casualties. It was renamed The Royal Horse Guards Blue in 1750. In the Seven Years War it fought at Minden, 1759, Warburg 1760 and Villinghausen 1761.

This was one of the troop standards in 1685:

At least eight other troop standards are known for this regiment in 1685 and I shall be posting some of the others later.

We have a major problem with depicting British cavalry standards between the 1690s and the 1740s in that we know very little about them. That being so, wargamers who wish to field British cavalry units in the War of the Spanish Succession can choose to have no standards (which would be heresy) or use earlier standards. Given the longevity of high quality cavalry standards in many nations at this period, it seems to me that the latter course makes perfect sense. It would probably be best, though, to avoid standards carrying the ciphers of disgraced monarchs like James II in the 1690s and early 1700s!

The uniform in 1685 included a blue coat lined red with gold buttons and buff breeches.