and I dont mean at Butlins either

because the french had already chosen blue...

I can feel a very funny joke regarding a captured English Colonel during the Napoleanonic wars but I cant be arsed writing it out.............Someone else will find it I am sure.

Prior the English Civil war various coloured coats were worn.
The beginning of "standardisation" came with the Parliamentary New Model Army who introduced red frock-coats for the infantry. I'm not sure that Red was chosen for any better reason than in those days, with tactics what they were and battlefield visibility what it was, red was highly visible and enabled commanders to see where there troops were.

When some units of the Parliamentary army were incorporated into the regular army on the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, such as Monck’s Regiment which became the Coldstream Guards, the red coat became the standard uniform of infantry soldiers, who were quickly identified as ‘Redcoats’.

that answer all be it correct is very boring...maybe they had some red cloth hanging around,,,,

This will be a short thread then.

I'm told red dye (or red cloth) was the cheapest available at that time.

Originally Posted by smiffy_the_ferret

I'm told red dye (or red cloth) was the cheapest available at that time.

Christ, you're old. You remember that?

so no change in army equipment then,,cheapest...

Originally Posted by pupgreen

so no change in army equipment then,,cheapest...

Of course.
Are you surprised?
It was a mercy that the Crabs were spared the Ruritanian Blue cloth that ... oh, so nearly ... became their uniform. Instead, someone was apparently persuaded to use a collection of left-over dyes to produce the dreaded Crab-Fat Grey.