[Important] Tunica

[Aula Flavia Philippa]

Hello! I was instructed to open a new important topic for discussion of our beloved 11th Legion ! And this topic will be ... you will not believe ... this topic will be about tunics! So with this message I open the most important discus about the color of legion tunics!
P.S. I'll tell you a secret , in our club there are two opinions on this matter, and the opposing sides for years break their spears in an endless battle of opinions ! Some believe that the tunic should be white, others think it's red! Why?... someone else will tell you about this.
P.S. Oh, yes, I completely forgot! Spread your opinions here, and write the argument of your color option!

[Paullus Aemilius Gallus]

Salve Philippa,

Red, I guess because of the (modern) origin of the 11th Legion. Red like the Factio Russata.
White, maybe because of the purity of the Legion who fights without causing bloodshed

I suggest the color blue. To remind the origin of the 11th Legion, the sea and in honor of Neptune.

Vale,
Gallus

[Quintus Vergilius Crassus]

I think of a blue too. Any cohort can have their own color I think, it is not problem, but blue I think have to be the main color, because looks very cool and new, not like red have everyone. My vote - blue

[Marca Marcia]

Blue is a good color, but as far as I can remember, during Antiquity, the blue dye was quite expensive, or am I mistaken? Just if the blue dye is expensive, it's expensive to dress a whole legion in blue tunics.

[Aula Flavia Philippa]

Unbleached cloth gets dirty much, stains remain. It is better to use a dyed fabric if it gets dirty, which is less noticeable. I like Blue, but I do not know what it was painted then. To get a red color, moraine is needed, it is distributed in our country, I believe that it was known in Ancient Rome as well. I heard that blue was obtained from shellfish, but then it is very expensive.

[Paullus Aemilius Gallus]

Do you mean that you don't use modern dye but only old traditional pigments?

[Aula Flavia Philippa]

Of course, yes. We are engaged in historical reconstruction, not role-playing games. Only in role-playing games form is important, not content. Of course, some clubs use factory products. Our club uses only handmade cloth, painted with natural dyes. But I was talking about something else. While a blue dye may be expensive, because it was obtained from hellfish, ie it would not be cost-effective in the days of ancient Rome to paint the entire Legion tunics in blue color is due to the high cost. Unbleached and white wool is much cheaper for manufactured large quantities of clothing. The red dye is moraine, not so expensive. For example, purple was considered an imperial color precisely because it was very expensive, the man in the street could not afford to sew clothes from purple-colored fabric. However, a wealthy citizen from ordo equestor, could afford a little woolly purple yarn, which was used to wipe the purple keys on the tunic. In Russian there is no research on dyes for textiles in the times of the Principate. I know more about Byzantium, that is, about the eastern part of the Empire, but I will be glad if someone refutes my statement and tells more about dyes, including blue and their availability, in the times of the Pricipate in the West.
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I'm using Google translator, so I hope that certain terms translated correctly.