In January 1902 the British army adopted a universal khaki uniform for home service wear, the Service Dress, after experience with lighter khaki drill in India and South Africa. Red coats were however retained, except in India where drab coloured garments were introduced in 1848 and worn increasingly from 1857 on. That trend was reversed during Crimean war with the adoption of looser fitting tunics and more practical headdresses. In the decades after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, British Army uniforms trended towards extravagance rather than practicality. The practice of distinguishing regiments by different facings was in general use by the early 18th century. īy the end of the 17th century, the English army uniform's colour (England not yet having joined with Scotland to form the United Kingdom), was largely settled on red with few exceptions. During the Civil War the Parliamentary New Model Army adopted a fairly standardised pattern of red clothing, a practice which continued with the small regular English Army of the Restoration period. Prior to the English Civil War of 1642–51 the only significant instances of uniform dress in British military culture occurred in small bodyguard units, notably the Yeoman of the Guard.
