The Thin Red Line (phrase)

The Thin Red Line, painted in 1881 by Robert Gibb, showing the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders in battle with Russian cavalry at the Battle of Balaklava 1854

The Thin Red Line is a English figure of speech for a thinly spread military unit holding firm against attack. The term originates in a journalist's description (a "thin red streak tipped with a line of steel") of the appearance of the red-coated 93rd (Highland) Regiment and parts of the Turkish army as they stood before (and repelled) a vastly superior force of Russian cavalry at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. The phrase later took on the metaphorical meaning of the barrier which the relatively limited armed forces of a country present to potential attackers.

See also

• The Thin Blue Line