If not Redcoats, then what?

hey, all. i've had this idea for a while but it just occurred to me that i should probably get some peer review before i finalize it.

anyway, i read a while back that, when the advent of what we'd call Redcoats first came about (during the English Civil War with the New Model Army, iirc), the red uniforms weren't standardized across the board and different units would have different-colored uniforms based on their leader/organizer's wealth, what was available to them, and even on personal preference, so there would also be, for example, whitecoats, browncoats, bluecoats, purplecoats, and so on

so i wanted to ask: what does everyone think about the plausibility of a different color of uniform becoming standard instead of red?
 
Talking specifically about the UK, yes?

Summarizing from this page, red was 'chosen' more the relative abundance of red dyes than the actual historical precedent of the New Model Army (or, earlier, the Yeomen of the Guard and Yeoman Warders in Tudor red and gold).

As for other colors: "Red was by no means universal at first, with grey and blue coats also being worn"; just have one of these other colors be more abundantly available and its possible they will be chosen, or at least implemented more widely/diversely.
 
Affordable and fast dye is of primary concern, which leaves you with a fairly small selection of blue, red, green, or brown. Alternative options are white (pipeclay) or grey (brushed but undyed fabrics).

Blue is the cheapest and the most colourfast. Green is affordable but fades easily. Red is the most expensive. Yellows fade very very fast and weren't popular, consistent orange is hard to get and heraldically unusual, brown wasn't a big hit in an era where easy identification and impressive appearance was at a premium.

I'd say blue or red are the most obvious choices for England, it can afford red for its relatively small army, but blue is a great choice too. Depends on what the French wear, of course. If they wear the Bourbon white or the Swiss Red, Blue seems like the perfect fit.
 
Blue seems like the perfect fit.

Then England in every single historical representation/game/etc would be portrayed as blue and France white (instead of red and blue respectively)?? Oh Lordy that would be fun!
 

Saphroneth

Banned
Does this possibly explain why the Confederate armies experienced the success they had, to some [hypothetically] measurable degree?
I doubt it, combat ranges in the ACW were so short that it doesn't really make a difference. (Below 150 yards - note that the visibility assessments shown start at 300 yards.)
 
Most continental Protestant nations choose for cost reasons blue (which became really cheap with the first real syntethic colour, Prussian blue, in 1709) and the catholic nations leaned to white tending to grey colour for the same reason. Both I see as possible alternatives, though grey is less likely.
 
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