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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & DETAILS ABOUT THE FLAGS

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 1. What flags are included in these sets?

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This set comprises of over 390 printed colour flags that represent all of the armies that fought at the Battle of Waterloo, on June 18th, 1815. These flags are designed for cutting-out and gluing to miniatures.

The flags are presented and laid out in sections for each army. Only regiments that were present on the battlefield are included here. Excluded therefore are Wellington's forces that were posted at Hal; Blucher's at Wavre and those who marched to Waterloo but did not arrive in time to affect the outcome; Napoleon's troops with Marshall Grouchy pursuing the Prussians, and the 1st Battalion of the 1st Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard, who were posted at the farm of Caillou.

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 2. What size miniatures do the flags fit?

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The flags have been sized for 6 mm metal miniatures and have been proportioned to fit the 6 mm ranges of "Baccus" and "Adler" figures.

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​3. How should I fix the flag to the miniature flag pole? 

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The best glue to use is one that doesn't dry too quickly so that you can manipulate the flag into its final position before it dries. This will allow you to form twists and turns in the flag to depict it waving and bellowing in the wind, if desired. The flags already include artistic depictions of "folds and creases", but physically bending the flags will definitely increase the realistic effect, as veteran modellers will know!

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 4. What type of paper are the flags printed on?
 

The colour flags are laser printed onto 80gsm white paper. This paper was chosen because it is thin enough to enable the tiny flags to be bent into shape if desired.

 

 5. How accurate are the flags historically?

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The The flag dimensions are not strictly to scale, but are usually a shade larger for a better visual impact on miniatures. Where they exist, flag designs are based on historical examples in museums. Where there is limited or no information with regard to flag details, designs are based on conjecture and on a 'reasonably realistic' principle.
 

Regimental flag details are of course not possible to see at this scale. However, for collectors who prefer to give a passing nod to their flags being regimentally accurate, even at this scale, details of each flag and what regiment they are meant to portray, are faithfully recorded on the reverse of this sheet. The fact is, these 6 mm flags have been directly copied from my 15/18mm range, most of which have regimental and battalion details. So, even if you can't see them, trust me, they are there! :)
   
French Regiments - The only Waterloo French flags that are missing historically from museums, are those of the Imperial Guard infantry - specifically, flags for the second battalions of the Old Guard, and all flags for the Middle and Young Guard. The designs I've therefore used are based on previous campaigns and on an 1812 instruction from Napoleon.
 

British, King's German Legion & Hanoverian Regiments - the British and KGL flag designs are common in museums, and so there no surprises with these. However, the picture is quite a bit different for the Hanoverian regiments. There were three Landwehr battalions at Waterloo for which some details survive of the flags they carried, Gifhorn, Salzgitter and Osnabrück. However these do not present a consistent design from which to re-create what flags the other nine battalions carried.

 So in the absence of fact, and employing a healthy dose of reasonable conjecture (such as using a town's coat of arms), I've come up with a selection of designs for all the remaining Hanoverian Landwehr, plus a selection of generic ones to provide flexibility and choice. The flags for the three field battalions are based on surviving historical details from previous campaigns.

Dutch-Belgian Regiments - the Army of the Netherlands did not carry any official flags at Waterloo due to their units only in the previous year, having served with Napoleon carrying flags of the French empire. However, surviving examples in museums and depictions on paintings, indicate regiments carried a battalion flag and company fanions, and that most of these were likely to have been orange in colour. In 1820, new flags were designed and issued to regiments with orange fields, but one can surmise that for the Waterloo campaign, regimental colonels decided to provide temporary colours for their regiments, with that colour likely to have been orange.

An acceptance has grown amongst the Waterloo wargame community, however (based on what historical source I do not know yet) that Dutch-Belgian units in 1820 were issued with flags based on unit facing colours, i.e. Line regiments 'white', Light infantry 'yellow', and Militia 'orange'. It is these flag designs issued in 1820, whether they were all orange, or not, that many today use for their Waterloo miniatures.
 
So regarding the Dutch-Belgian flags, you will have the choice to present all of your Netherlands regiments with either orange flags, or the white/yellow/orange flags purported to have existed

Nassau Regiments - for the two battalions of the 28th Orange-Nassau Regiment, I've offered two variations to choose from. This new regiment was assigned a Netherlands Line Regiment number, so may have carried an orange flag. The orange/blue variant is speculative, but I like it!

Prussian Regiments - the flags carried by the Prussian regiments at Waterloo, pose a particular problem. This is because according to historical records, only a handful of line regiments were supposed to have carried any flags at all. This is mainly because several infantry regiments were in somewhat of a transitional state, having previously been Reserve regiments in the army (12th, 15th, 18th, 24th, 25th, 26th), and just prior to the Waterloo campaign, were given 'Line' status, but were only issued with their flags, later in the year. The Prussian Landwehr too, had been officially instructed not to carry flags by their King. This was, it seems, in response to the variety of unofficial flags that were being used in previous campaigns.

So, to produce this set, some decisions had to be made. Quite clearly, if we follow what history states, then there's no real need to create a Waterloo Prussian flag set at all, because so very few flags were officially carried. But we are in the business of creating personal, miniature armies, and many people prefer to have flags for all of their regiments!

What I have set out to do, therefore, is to present a selection of flags for both the former Reserve and Landwehr regiments:
 

For the Landwehr:

• Flags based on conjecture - these designs utilize coat of arms and the various Prussian state Eagles, to produce flags that give some identity

• Generic Prussian flags - these feature historically known details of some Landwehr flags

 

For the former Reserve, now Line regiments:
 

• Flags issued in late 1815 - these are the flags they were eventually issued a few months after the Waterloo campaign

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I have also created flags for all the Prussian light cavalry units as well, even though we know they were not carried into the field. The general designs for the Hussars and Uhlans should be fairly accurate, although the flag field colours are speculative, being based here on uniform facing colours. You will also find flags for light cavalry flags from all nations, should you wish to use them.

I trust this 6 mm Waterloo flag set will provide all the flags you should ever need for this iconic battle. If not, your feedback is most welcome.

​​Michael,

TBW

 

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