A red coat, also referred to as a redcoat or a scarlet tunic, is a military garment formerly much used by most regiments of the British Army, so customarily that the term became a common synecdoche for the soldiers themselves.

The red coat was widely (though not exclusively) used by the infantry and some cavalry units of the British military plus the Royal Marines, from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. The garment was also widely used by the British Colonial Auxiliary Forces and the British Indian Army during the same period. Though, by the 20th century, the red coat was abandoned for practical duties in favour of khaki by all British Empire military units, it continues to be used for ceremonial full dress and mess dress uniforms in many countries of the Commonwealth of Nations.Concise Oxford Dictionary 1982, p. 868,

The usage of red coats by English soldiers dates back to the Tudor period, when the Yeomen of the Guard and the Yeomen Warders were both equipped in the royal colours of the House of Tudor, red and gold. During the Tudor conquest of Ireland and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, units of English soldiers were equipped in red coats, most notably the New Model Army, which fought on the Parliamentary side.Abbé MacGeoghegan, History of Ireland, Ancient and Modern (Paris, 1758), trans. P. O'Kelly (1832), Vol. III, p.109.Historiae Catholicae Iberniae Compendium by Philip O'Sullivan Beare (1621), Tome II, Bk IV, Chap III, translated as Ireland Under Elizabeth by Matthew J. Byrne (1903). See p. 5 of Byrne's translation.'Elizabeth I: volume 180, June 1595', in Calendar of State Papers, Ireland, 1592-1596, ed. Hans Claude Hamilton (London, 1890), p. 322.

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 Earlier instances

There had been instances of red military clothing pre-dating its general adoption by the New Model Army. The uniforms of the Yeomen of the Guard and the Yeomen Warders, both formed in 1485, have traditionally been in Tudor red (representing the colour of the Welsh dragon) and gold. The Gentlemen Pensioners of King James I wore red uniforms with yellow feathers in their hats. At the Battle of Edgehill, the first battle of the English Civil War, Royalist troops wore red coats, as did at least two Parliamentary regiments. However, none of these examples constituted the national uniform that the red coat was later to become.

16th century

During the Tudor conquest of Ireland, English troops in Ireland sometimes wore red clothing, which was noted by Irish commentators. As early as 1561, a battle between English and Irish forces was being referred to as the "Battle of the Red Cassocks" (), on the accounts of the red clothing worn by the English troops. The Irish nobleman and soldier Philip O'Sullivan Beare mentioned the battle in his 1621 history of the Tudor conquest, written during his exile in Spain. He described it as "that famous victory which is called 'of the red sagums' [] because among others who fell in battle were four hundred soldiers lately brought from England and clad in the red livery of the viceroy."

In the same work, Beare mentioned two other engagements between English and Irish forces in which the former wore red clothing. The first was an engagement in 1581 during the Second Desmond Rebellion in which according to Beare "a company of English soldiers, distinguished by their dress and arms, who were called "red sagums" [], and being sent to war [in Ireland] by the Queen were overwhelmed near Lismore by John Fitzedmund Fitzgerald, the seneschal."Philip O'Sullivan Beare (1621), Historiae Catholicae Iberniae Compendium, Vol. II, Bk IV, Chap XV, translated as Ireland Under Elizabeth by Matthew J. Byrne (1903). See p. 27 of Byrne's translation. The second was a 1599 victory by forces under William Burke, Lord of Bealatury over "English recruits clad in red sagums" () during the Nine Years' War.Historiae Catholicae Iberniae Compendium by Philip O'Sullivan Beare (1621), Tome III, Bk V, Chap IV, translated as Ireland Under Elizabeth by Matthew J. Byrne (1903). See p. 118 of Byrne's translation.

English sources confirm that some of their troops in Ireland wore red uniforms. In 1584, the Lord President of the Council informed the sheriffs and justices of the peace of Lancashire who were charged with raising 200 infantryman for service in Ireland that they should be furnished with "a cassocke of some motley, sad grene coller, or russett".Letter of the Lords in Council to the Sheriffs & Justices of Lancashire, dated 16 August 1584, concerning the raising and outfitting of 200-foot. Quoted in Francis Peck Desiderata Curiosa (1779), Vol I, Lib IV, No. LIII, p. 155. In summer 1595, the Lord Deputy of Ireland William Russell, writing to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley about the siege of Enniskillen, mentioned that the Irish rebel leader Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone had "300 shot in red coats like English soldiers"."Elizabeth I: volume 180, June 1595", in Calendar of State Papers, Ireland, 1592–1596, ed. Hans Claude Hamilton (London, 1890), p. 322.

During the Anglo-Spanish War and Eighty Years' War, English pikemen and musketeers fighting in the Low Countries alongside the Dutch also wore red clothing. During the siege of Ostend, 1,600 English troops under the command of Sir Francis Vere, many of them wearing red clothing, arrived to the city as reinforcements in July 1601. The 16th-century military historian Julius Ferretus stated that English troops wore red uniforms to conceal blood stains, but this claim has been described as questionable by the historian Clifford Elliott Walton because blood does in fact show on red clothing as a black stain.Clifford Walton, History of the British Standing Army. A.D. 1660 to 1700 p. 363.

17th century

The red coat evolved from being the British infantryman's normally worn 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, paper strength, comprising eleven regiments of cavalry each of 600 men for a total of 6,600, twelve regiments of infantry each of 1,200 men for a total of 14,400, and one regiment of 1,000 dragoons and the artillery, consisting of 900 men. The infantry regiments wore coats of Venetian red with white, blue or yellow 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."

Outside of Ireland or Britain, 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." The name of the battle comes from the major engagement carried out by the "red-coats". To the surprise 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. Another factor favouring red was that dyes of this colour were "fast" and less inclined to fade when exposed to weather. Red was by no means universal at first, with grey and blue coats also being worn.

18th century

Until 1784 all regular regiments of the British cavalry wore red coats, with the notable exception of The Royal Horse Guards ("The Blues"). In that year light dragoons were issued with new uniforms which included dark blue coats. Red coats were also an exclusive feature of British regular infantry until the 1802 dress regulations announced the adoption of dark green by the newly raised rifle regiments.

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. 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.

In 1747, the first of a series of clothing regulations and royal warrants 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 The long coat worn with a white or buff-coloured waistcoat 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.

American Revolutionary War

In the United States, "Redcoat" is associated in cultural memory with the British soldiers who fought against the Patriots during the American Revolutionary War. The Library of Congress possesses several examples of the uniforms the British Army used during this time.Richard Holmes, page 2. "Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket", W.W. Norton and Co., Most soldiers who fought the Patriots wore the red coat, though all German auxiliaries and some Loyalist units had blue or green clothing.

Accounts of the time usually refer to British soldiers as "Regulars"Journals of the Continental Congress, Volume 2 Page 30 of 256 or "the King's men". However, there is evidence of the term "red coats" being used informally, as a colloquial expression. During the Siege of Boston, on 4 January 1776, General George Washington used the term "red coats" in a letter to Joseph Reed.The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, Vol. 4: To JOSEPH REED Cambridge, January 4, 1776. "..the red coats I mean..." In an earlier letter dated 13 October 1775, Washington used a variation of the expression, stating, "whenever the Redcoat gentry pleases to step out of their Intrenchments."The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, Vol. 4: To JOHN AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON Camp at Cambridge, 13 October 1775. "whenever the red Coat gentry pleases to step out of their Intrenchments." Major General John Stark of the Continental Army was purported to have said during the Battle of Bennington (16 August 1777), "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!"Crockett, Walter Hill (1921). Vermont: The Green Mountain State, Volume 2. New York: The Century History Company.

Other nicknames used by Americans to describe British regulars included "bloody backs" (in a reference to both the colour of their coats and the use of flogging as a means of punishment for military offences) and "lobsters", most notably in Boston around the time of the Boston Massacre.since a boiled American lobster is always bright red and near perfect match to the colour of the late 18th century uniform. The earliest reference to the association with the American lobster appears in 1740, four years before the outbreak of King George's War.

19th–20th century