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Red coat or Redcoat is a historical term〔page 868, Concise Oxford Dictionary 1982, ISBN 0-19-861131-5〕 used to refer to soldiers of the British Army and Royal Marines because of the red uniforms formerly worn by the majority of infantry regiments. From the mid-17th century to the 19th century, the uniform of most British soldiers, (apart from artillery, rifles and light cavalry), included a madder red coat or coatee. From 1873 onwards, the more vivid shade of scarlet was adopted for all ranks, having previously been worn only by officers, sergeants and all ranks of some cavalry regiments.〔Major R.M. Barnes ''A History of the Regiments & Uniforms of the British Army", Sphere Books Ltd London 1972, p.257〕 == History == The Red Coat has evolved from being the British infantryman's ordinary uniform to a garment retained only for ceremonial purposes. Its official adoption dates from February 1645, when the Parliament of England passed the New Model Army ordinance. The new English Army was formed of 22,000 men, divided into 12 foot regiments of 600 men each, one dragoon regiment of 1000 men, and the artillery, consisting of 900 guns. The infantry regiments wore coats of Venetian red with white facings. A contemporary comment on the New Model Army dated 7 May 1645 stated "the men are Redcoats all, the whole army only are distinguished by the several facings of their coats".〔Peter Young & Richard Holmes, page 43 "The English Civil War", ISBN 978-1-84022-222-7〕 There had been isolated instances of red military clothing pre-dating its general adoption by the New Model Army. The uniforms of the Yeoman of the Guard (formed 1485) and the Yeomen Warders (also formed 1485) have traditionally been in Tudor red and gold.〔 The Gentlemen Pensioners of James I (now the Gentlemen-at-Arms) had worn red with yellow feathers".〔W.Y. Carmen, page 15 "British Military Uniforms from Contemporary Pictures"〕 At Edgehill, the first battle of the Civil War, the King's people had worn red coats, as had at least two Parliamentary regiments".〔Peter Young & Richard Holmes, page 42 "The English Civil War", ISBN 978-1-84022-222-7〕 However none of these examples constituted the national uniform that the red coat was later to become.〔 The English Red Coat made its first appearance on a European continental battlefield at the Battle of the Dunes in 1658. A Protectorate army had been landed at Calais the previous year and "every man had a new red coat and a new pair of shoes".〔W.Y. Carmen, page 17 "British Military Uniforms from Contemporary Pictures"〕 The English name from the battle comes from the major engagement carried out by the "red-coats". To the amazement of continental observers they stormed sand-dunes high fighting experienced Spanish soldiers from their summits with musket fire and push of pike. The adoption and continuing use of red by most British/English soldiers after the Restoration (1660) was the result of circumstances rather than policy, including the relative cheapness of red dyes.〔W.Y. Carman ''British Military Uniforms from Contemporary Pictures", Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd 1957〕 Red was by no means universal at first, with grey and blue coats also being worn.〔 There is no known basis for the myth that red coats were favoured because they did not show blood stains. Blood does in fact show on red clothing as a black stain. Prior to 1707 colonels of regiments made their own arrangements for the manufacture of uniforms under their command. This ended when a royal warrant of 16 January 1707 established a Board of General Officers to regulate the clothing of the army. Uniforms supplied were to conform to the "sealed pattern" agreed by the board.〔 The style of the coat tended to follow those worn by other European armies. The long coat worn with a white or buff coloured waistcoat〔Kannik, Preben (1968), ''Military Uniforms of the World in Colour'', Blandford Press Ltd, ISBN 0-71370482-9 (p. 130)〕 was discontinued in 1797 in favour of a tight-fitting coatee fastened with a single row of buttons, with white lace loops on either side.〔Kannik p. 188〕 Following the discomfort experienced by troops in the Crimean War, a more practical tunic was introduced in 1855, initially in the French double breasted style, but replaced by a single breasted version in the following year.〔Beckett, Ian F W (2007), (''Discovering British Regimental Traditions'' ) Shire Publications Ltd ISBN 978-0-7478-0662-2 (p. 89)〕 From an early stage red coats were lined with contrasting colours and turned out to provide distinctive regimental ''facings'' (lapels, cuffs and collars). Examples were blue for the 8th Regiment of Foot, green for the 5th Regiment of Foot, yellow for the 44th Regiment of Foot and buff for the 3rd Regiment of Foot. 1747 saw the first of a series of clothing regulations and royal warrants that set out the various facing colours and distinctions to be borne by each regiment.〔"Regulation for the Uniform Cloathing of the Marching Regiments of Foot" reproduced in 〕 An attempt at standardisation was made following the Childers Reforms of 1881, with English and Welsh regiments having white, Scottish yellow, Irish green and Royal regiments dark blue. However some regiments were subsequently able to obtain the reintroduction of historic facing colours that had been uniquely theirs.〔W.Y. Carman "Uniforms of the British Army — the Infantry Regiments, ISBN 978-0-86350-031-2, p.33〕 British soldiers fought in scarlet tunics for the last time at the Battle of Gennis in the Sudan on 30 December 1885. They formed part of an expeditionary force sent from Britain to participate in the Nile Campaign of 1884-85, wearing the "home service uniform" of the period including scarlet tunics, although some regiments sent from India were in khaki drill. A small detachment of infantry which reached Khartoum by steamer on 28 January 1885 were ordered to fight in their red coats in order to let the Mahdist rebels know that the ''real'' British forces had arrived.〔Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1995) ''The Colonial Wars Sourcebook'', London: Arms and Armour Press, ISBN 978-1-85409-196-3, p. 35〕 Even after the adoption of khaki service dress in 1902, most British infantry regiments (81 out of 85) and some cavalry regiments (12 out of 31) 〔Major R.M. Barnes, "A History of the Regiments & Uniforms of the British Army", Sphere Books Ltd London 1972, pages 295-302〕 continued to wear scarlet tunics on parade and for off-duty "walking out dress", until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. While nearly all technical and support branches of the army wore dark blue, the Royal Engineers had worn red since the Peninsular War in order to draw less fire when serving amongst red-coated infantry.〔Major R.M. Barnes, "Military Uniforms of Britain & the Empire", Sphere Books Ltd London 1972, page 157〕 Scarlet tunics ceased to be general issue upon British mobilisation in August 1914. The Brigade of Guards resumed wearing their scarlet full dress in 1920 but for the remainder of the army red coats were only authorised for wear by regimental bands and officers in mess dress or on certain limited social or ceremonial occasions (notably attendance at court functions or weddings). The reason for not generally reintroducing the distinctive full dress was primarily financial, as the scarlet cloth requires expensive cochineal dye. As late as 1980, consideration was given to the reintroduction of scarlet as a replacement for the dark blue "No. 1 dress" and khaki "No. 2 dress" of the modern British Army, using cheaper and fadeless chemical dyes instead of cochineal. Surveys of serving soldiers' opinion showed little support for the idea and it was shelved. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Red coat (British Army and Royal Marines)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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