Political colour which dates back to the French Revolution in the 18th century and the revolutions of 1848. Before this nascence, the colour red was generally associated with monarchy or the Church due to the symbolism and association of Christ's blood. The colour red was chosen to represent the blood of the workers who died in the struggle against capitalism. All major socialist and communist alliances and organisations—including the First, Second and Third Internationals—used red as their official colour. The association between the colour red and communism is particularly strong. Communists use red much more often and more extensively than other ideologies
Unit Colour Patch was assigned a colour and the Brigade HQ colour patches were the Divisional shape in the Brigade colour. Each Battalion in each Brigade was then assigned a colour, and the patch was split horizontally with the Battalion colour across the top of the field and the Brigade across the bottom of the field. Light Horse, Artillery, Engineer and Medical units were also allocated colour patches. Light Horse patches were divided diagonally. In total over 300 individual patches were authorized during the war. Military Order 206/21 in 1921 authorised the use of Unit Colour Patches for the Citizen Military Forces (CMF),