Check out these beautiful images, captured by French photographer and Great War military officer Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud in 1917-18. They have not been colorized but were made with an early color photo process known as autochrome
Flag of a battalion of Chasseurs à Pied, Alsace, 1917, held by a stack of rifle bayonets. Note four Médailles Militaires, a Croix de Guerre with palm, and a Légion d’honneur.
Flag and decorations of the 152e RI (régiment d’infanterie),: four Croix de Guerre with palm (cited in the order of the army), a Croix de Guerre with a star (cited in the order of the division), and a fourragère military medal. Note the Berthier rifles.
The pennant given by the city of Gérardmer to the 152e RI (régiment d’infanterie), adorned with the Croix de Guerre with four palms and a star). Tracing its lineage to 1794, the regiment was known as the Diables Rouges, or Red Devils, from a supposed reference by the Germans to its red trousers in 1914. Its motto is “Ne pas Subir!” which roughly translates to “never surrender” and the unit is still around, having recently added honors to its flag for Afghanistan.
Insert cynical “bit of colored ribbon” commentary, here.