This illustration by Brian Fosten shows the style of the back skirts of both the 1855 and 1856 pattern tunic worn by officers of the Royal Regiment. The shaped flaps were an echo of the pocket flaps worn on the tails of the coatee up until 1848. The skirt vent is edge in white as are the flaps, and half-inch gold lace traces inside the white edging.
The detail on the left shows a lieutenant-colonel’s cuff with a double row of lace around the top and a lace edge to the cuff flap. The collars show a major’s with one star on a collar laced top and bottom. Below that is a lieutenant’s collar with a crown, to the right of that an ensign’s collar with one star, and above that, a captain’s collar with crown and star. In 1868 the pattern of the cuff changed to a pointed style.
