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Regiment of Kergroades (Kingdom of France)

Ordonnance flag of the regiment of Kergroades; left, according to Biéville; right, according to Charrié - Images by Ivan Sache, 10 March 2006

History of the Regiment of Kergroades
Flags of the Regiment of Kergroades

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History of the Regiment of Kergroades

The regiment of Kergroades (aka Kaërgroet, Tiergrodec) was raised on 4 February 1706 in Lower-Britanny by Monsieur de Kergroades. It was transferred on 27 March 1708 to Monsieur Cadot de Sebbeville and incorporated into the Regiment of Touraine in 1714. The regiment served mostly in Flanders.

Ivan Sache, 10 March 2006

Flags of the Regiment of Kergroades

The ordonnance flag of the Regiment of Kergroades is divided by a white cross. The sources slightly differ on the colours of the quarters.
P. de Biéville (Les drapeaux dans l'armée française, 1972-1974) says "black and blue flames on a yellow background".
P. Charrié (additions to Biéville by Mazzoleni) says "chapé black, white and light blue".
P. Berry (Un régiment breton éphémère. Ar Banniel [arb] 14, 21-22, 2001) refers to a mimeographed, unpublished work by P. Fouré, and says that the background of the quarters is "isabelle (pale yellow or yellowish white)". In French, isabelle, mostly used for a horse's coat, is an ill-defined yellowish colour. The popular etymology says that Queen of Spain Isabel the Catholic refused to change her white dress until the end of the siege of Grenada in 1491, and that isabelle was the colour of the dress at the end; a similar legend portrays Archiduchess Isabel of Austria during the siege of Ostende (1601).

In the case of the regiment of Kergroades, the white and light blue version can be considered as a faded version of the "genuine" yellow and blue flag, but the yellow and blue version can also be considered as a darkened version of the "genuine" white and light blue flag. I have not attempted to draw the "isabelle" version, since the author is not explicit on the colour (but he writes "yellowish white or pale yellow", therefore it does not fit the modern definition of "isabelle").

Ivan Sache, 12 March 2006