this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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Let's not leave out the flag bearers, creating a tempting target for any artillery or siege weapons.
tbf, artillery was pretty inaccurate - by the time it was accurate enough to hit single individuals, sharpshooters were the bigger problem.
But yeah, there's a reason why flag-bearers have such ridiculous casualty rates. "HERE, SEE MY BRIGHT COLORS WAVING ABOVE MY HEAD? I'M WORTH BONUS POINTS"
I mean, in Roman times (the Republic, you philistine) losing a flag/standard was a huge shame.
Later semaphores meant you could cut off communication by killing the flag bearer. Which would be beneficial in a battle
I don’t know if any of this is true though, just facts I learned from various places and Wikipedia articles. I wouldn’t trust me on this.
It's still a big shame to lose your flag. Granted, these days it's within the same military, generally the same brigade or lower. But there's still intra military respect/shame based on your flag and who's in possession of it.
Flags in later combat were used for the same reason (and with the same notions of honor and dishonor from losing it) as Roman standards. The flagbearers were around to KEEP THE COLORS HIGH, both to encourage the troops and to give them something recognizable to follow in the chaos of the battlefield. Lost your way? Look for the standard waving at the front of your unit, and follow them forward!
The flagbearers of the US Civil War were separate from the signaling corps, who used different flags and had to run them up and down as needed.
"A man who loses the King's Colours... loses the King's friendship."
https://youtu.be/CG7daMnrNuY
Still, shooting the flagbearer is Standard procedure 😏
The thing is you didn’t really have to hit one person. They usually marched at the front of said armies.
I mean, the thing is, artillery is generally pretty inaccurate up until a pretty late point. Even in the US Civil War, explosive shot was the exception, not the norm, and if you hit the unit you were aiming for, much less aiming for any particular rank or file, it was considered a good shot.
Famously, General Sedgewick exposed himself under artillery fire for a prolonged period, reassuring his men that the Confederate artillery couldn't hit an elephant at the distance they were at.
... he was killed shortly thereafter, but by a hidden sharpshooter, not the artillery.
You might not be able to hit a soldier, but you usually can hit an army.
The flag just gives you something to focus on.
It’s like the urinal cakes. Just being there draws fire, even if it’s a college bar and they mostly miss the urinal.
If you can't hit an army unit, you deserve to lose the war. An army is a HUGE fucking unit. Company colors is what you're likely referring to.
In case anyone was ignorant amidst the jokes, the purpose of both flag bearers and drummers was basically communication, and was utterly crucial for command and control of an army. It wasn’t just an honor thing, though adding honor on top made sure that soldiers wouldn’t abandon it.
Not just tempting, but with convenient windage markers.