Sir Gervase Lucas' Company
The Colours - A Brief History cont...
Common to the two understood systems are the following four rules.
1.) All flags in a regimental set to have a common field of colour.
2.) The Colonel's flag is plain, composed entirely and only of the field colour.
3.) The Lieutenant-Colonel's flag, and all subsequent flags through the regiment,
have a St George's cross in the canton.
4.) The Major's and Captains' flags are distinguished either by system 1 or system 2 below.
System 1
1.) The Major's flag is distinguished by a pile, wavy.
2.) The Captains' flags are distinguished by one or more of a common device,
i.e. the First Captain: one, the Second Captain: two, etc.
System 2
1.) The Major's flag is distinguished by one of a common device.
2.) The Captains' flags are distinguished bt two or more of the common device
according to seniority as described above.
Therefore from the above it can be seen that Lucas' Colours follow System 1 with the notable
exceptions that: (a) the basic field of all the flagsin our unit are actually made up of two
colours, blue and yellow, that: (b) in the Major's flag the pile from the canton is not wavy
but countercharged and straight and that: (c) all the following Captains' Colours bear
countercharged devices (crosses) according to seniority.
Only a limited range of colours are mentioned in conjunction with English Civil War flags.
These are sometimes given an English name and sometimes an heraldic name. The colours used
are divided into three groups: colours, stains and metals as shown below.
| English name | Heraldic name | |
| Colours | Red | Gules |
| Blue | Azure | |
| Green | Vert | |
| Black | Sable | |
| Purple | Purpure | |
| Stains | Orange/Tawny/Tunnis | Tenne |
| Crimson | Sanguine or Murrey | |
| Metals | Gold or Yellow | Or |
| Silver or White | Argent |
In theory a flag whose field was of colour or stain should only have a metal device, and vice versa. This convention was usually followed and as can be seen from Lucas' Colours applies in the case of the Belvoir Cormorants.