The Imperial Eagle was the soul of the French regiment under Napoleon. Designed by the sculptor Antoine-Denis Chaudet and cast in bronze by Pierre-Philippe Thomire, the eagle finial that crowned each regimental staff was personally presented by the Emperor to his line regiments at the Champ de Mars ceremony of December 5, 1804 — three days after his coronation at Notre-Dame. The Eagle replaced the older tricolor flagstaffs of the Republic as the regiment's sacred object, and losing it in battle was the regiment's deepest disgrace; the porte-aigle, the eagle-bearer who carried it, was a chosen sub-lieutenant who was expected to die before letting the Eagle fall. Below the bronze bird, the silk pennon stitched with the regiment's battle honors recorded the campaigns the unit had earned its place in — names like Marengo, Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau, Friedland, Wagram, Moskova, and Montmirail across the years from the Italian campaign of 1800 to the last defense of France in 1814.

This King & Country figure shows the porte-aigle of a French line regiment at the moment of rally — sword raised in his right hand, the Imperial Eagle staff gripped in his left, the regimental pennon flowing beside him bearing the catalog of Napoleonic victories. The blood at his temple is the wound he is already carrying as he calls his men back to the colors. He wears the dress of a junior infantry officer of the Empire: dark blue coat with red collar and cuffs and gold lace, white waistcoat, white breeches, black tall riding boots; the bicorne hat carries the tricolor cockade. The Eagle itself is the diagnostic K&C detail — the bronze bird crowning the staff, the gold-fringed pennon embroidered with the battle honors and Imperial cyphers in gold. He stands at the head of the regiment alongside command figures like General Jean-Baptiste Bessières commanding the Imperial Guard cavalry and General Gourgaud of Napoleon's personal staff, and faces across the field the Sgt. Ewart & the French Standard figure of the Scots Greys trooper who captured exactly such an eagle at Waterloo.

Model: NA366 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / 1 piece set