1st Connecticut State Regiment - American Revolutionary War

This unit is an example of a "State Line" regiment. The term refers to units raised and (hopefully paid) by the individual colonies, and not by the Continental Congress. The term state is of course an anachronism; there were no "states" during the Revolution, that came later with the US Constitution in 1788. 

I find the design of this historically attested flag (by Adolfo Ramos) somewhat odd. The color of the ground of the flag doesn't reflect the color(s) of the uniform or the state. By 1712, the Colony of Connecticut was already using a seal almost identical to the modern one; Three supported grape vines in natural colors, and a scroll with the motto "Qui Transtulit Sustinet", "He who transplanted still sustains".

The "Charter Oak" might have been another logical symbol - "On October 9, 1662, The General Court of Connecticut formally received the Charter won from King Charles II by the suave diplomacy of Governor John Winthrop, Jr., who had crossed the ocean for the purpose. Twenty-five years later, with the succession of James II to the throne, Connecticut's troubles began in earnest. Sir Edmund Andros, His Majesty's agent, followed up failure of various strategies by arriving in Hartford with an armed force to seize the Charter. After hours of debate, with the Charter on the table between the opposing parties, the candle-lit room suddenly went dark. Moments later when the candles were re-lighted, the Charter was gone. Captain Joseph Wadsworth is credited with having removed and secreted the Charter in the majestic oak on the Wyllys estate." It is estimated that the white oak tree may have been hundreds of years old at the time, and it stood until 1857, when it was blown down by an enormous thunderstorm. Wood from the tree was used to make a variety of artifacts, and acorns from the original trees were collected and planted in roughly 100 locations across the state, often near post offices, cemeteries, town halls and the like. Descendants of those trees have been planted for various ceremonial occasions and historic anniversaries - two seedling were even sent to France to be planted in the modern gardens at Versailles! 

In 1998, the University of Connecticut , my alma mater twice over (and of which I was a clinical professor in Family Medicine for 30 years) adopted a new logo and seal inspired by the charter oak (as well as a new  version of the Husky logo for the athletic teams in 2013, the whole Husky thing being a play on UConn, the common shorthand for the University for decades, and, as of 1998, now the way that the University refers to itself in most correspondence.

Ok, that's enough UConn stuff, but as well as myself and my wife, my sister in law is also a UConn graduate. Back to the Revolution...

In any event, the flag is the flag!

This regiment is documented to have had red coats with white collars and cuffs. I have used a very dark "barn red" kind of color for the uniforms; scarlet cloth was very expensive and hard to come by at this time, especially in North America!

Connecticut regiments were often noted to be especially well clothed and equipped during the Revolution! The drummer wears fashionable reversed colors. Figures are by Brigade Games once again. 

Addendum:

The state actually did set forth regulations for the flags of its State Line regiments in 1775, as follows:

In 1775, the standards of all Connecticut Regiments were of the same design, but of different colors. Wooster’s was to be yellow, Spencer’s blue, Putnam’s scarlet, Hinman’s crimson, Waterbury’s white, Parson’s azure, Webb’s blue (?), and Huntington’s orange. On Prospect Hill in Somerville, the strongest work in the siege line around Boston, General Putnam raised his scarlet standard, bearing on one side the Connecticut shield with its motto, “Qui Transtulit Sustinet” (He Who Transplanted Still Sustains). The other side of the [Putnam} standard bore the motto of Massachusetts, “An Appeal to Heaven” (John Locke, “Two Treatises of Government”, 2nd Treatise.

Taken from:

https://www.sarconnecticut.org/the-scarlet-standard-no-2/

Then there is this:

Source: "The Flag Book of the United States", Smith (1975)

This flag belongs to the Second Connecticut Regiment. The flag is described in the book as "Red field, yellow scrolls, fringe and outer edge of shield, blue inner edge of shield and ribbon above shield. Grapes are purple, leaves green and ground brown." There is also a little narrative of the flag and its regiment:

"This flag was probably used after 1775, when the Connecticut General Assembly ordered eight regiments to be raised, and before 1777, when the Continental Line was organized. The three grape vines on the shield, the arms of Connecticut, represent the three original settlements of the colony; Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield. The motto is abbreviated from Qui Transtulit Sustinet, 'He who brought us here will take care of us.'"

Randy Young, 29 January 2001

Whitney Smith's Flag Book of the United States (Smith,1975) points out that the Connecticut arms with three grapevines were used on flags from an early date. The regimental color of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Connecticut Regiment, circa 1775, is still extant. It shows the arms on a red field; each Connecticut regiment in the Revolutionary War carried this basic design on a different colored field. A 1780 regulation provided for the addition of 13 stripes in a lower quarter if necessary to distinguish similar colors from one another.

Taken from:

https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-ct%5Er.html

Another listing says the colors of the flags for the 8 regiments were:

• 1st Regiment: Yellow
• 2nd Regiment (Wooster's): Yellow
• 3rd Regiment (Hinman's): Crimson
• 4th Regiment: White
• 5th Regiment (Waterbury's): White
• 7th Regiment (Parsons's): Azure
• 8th Regiment (Huntington's): Orange
• Webb's Regiment: Blue