Every British line regiment carried two colours into battle, and the men who carried them stood at the center of the unit's tactical and ceremonial identity. The King's Colour was the Union flag with the regimental number and royal cypher set into its center — the symbol of the regiment's allegiance to the Crown, of George III specifically and of the British state generally. The Regimental Colour was the regiment's own — its field in the facing color that the 1768 Royal Warrant had assigned (bright yellow for the 10th Foot), charged with the royal cypher, the regimental number, and the regimental devices in gold lace. The two colours were carried by the regiment's youngest commissioned officers, the ensigns, with sergeants posting halberds in close support and corporals from the flank companies forming the color guard around them. The colours served two purposes at once: a visible rallying point that a soldier could orient on through powder smoke and noise, and the regiment's honor itself, which a unit would lose only if it surrendered or was overrun. The 10th Foot carried its colours through the American war on the northern campaigns from Boston to Long Island to Philadelphia and brought them home to England intact — unlike the regiments of the armies surrendered at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781, whose colours stayed in American hands.

This Tradition of London set is a seven-figure color party of the 10th Foot, hand-cast in white metal at 54mm and finished in the gloss enamel of the classic Tradition line. The figures stand together as the regiment's center: an officer at the front holds his drawn sword while the two ensigns carry the regiment's two colours — the King's Colour with the Union flag and royal cypher, and the Regimental Colour on the bright yellow ground that the 10th's facing color provided, charged with the royal devices in gold. The sergeant grounds his halberd in support, and two corporals flank the color party with bayonets fixed and muskets at the charge. The drummer to the right wears the regiment's reversed-colors musician's dress: yellow coat with red lapels and cuffs (yellow being the parent regiment's facing color, red the parent regiment's coat color), white herringbone lace on the sleeves, and a bearskin cap. The set extends the 10th Foot infantry set — the eight-figure line company that opens the regiment in the catalog — and the two together form a complete regimental center. For collectors building across manufacturers, the gloss-painted Tenth color party stands naturally beside the W. Britain matte 43rd Foot ensign with King's Colours for a two-regiment color line.

Set Number: 0202 / Tradition of London — Soldiers for Collectors / 54mm scale / white metal / gloss enamel / 7 figures (officer + sergeant + 2 ensigns with colours + drummer + 2 corporals)