"How To"
Create and Train Your Color Guard Unit

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Uniform    Selection

The selection of the uniform your Color Guard will wear is extremely important.   It is an unfortunate fact that Hollywood has determined what the public perceives as being correct.  That popular view includes the famed cocked hat and knee breeches.

Uniform colors are generally believed to be blue with buff facings.  In real life, the actual uniforms of the Continental Line were of quite a variety with the above description being a very small percentage of the army as a whole.   George Washington himself ordered the wearing of overalls (longpants) in lieu of knee breeches.  In October of 1779, Gen. Washington ordered that all units of the Continental Army were to wear uniforms that made it easy to identify them as being Americans.  Dark blue being the basic color.  These were the regional specifications; the facings on the coats would denote the area of the Country from where they came:  New York and New Jersey buff facings with their drummers and fifers wearing the blue facings on buff coats.   Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island were to have white facings with musicians (drummers and fifers) wearing white coats with blue facings.   Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland were to have scarlet facings, with their musicians wearing scarlet coats with blue facings.  North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia were to have light blue facings with their musicians in light blue coats with dark blue facings.

It wasn't until the end of the war in 1783 that these regulations were revised.   From that time onward the Continental Army wore blue coats faced with red with white overalls and white waistcoats.  The Headgear of the period varied as much as the uniforms.   The helmet was probably as popular as the famous tricorn and the round hat was equally as common.

In addition to the Continental Line, the Calvary and the Artillery wore uniforms that were distinctive.  The Massachusetts SAR Color Guard wears the uniform of General Henry Knox's the Massachusetts Regiment of Artillery.

For those State Societies and/or Chapters that are in the original thirteen Colonies we strongly recommend choosing one of the Regiments associated with your native State.  For those living elsewhere, choose any Regiment, but faithfully maintain the authenticity of the uniform.