is noted for aiding the American cause in the American Revolution, when a detachment was assigned as marines to John Paul Jones' ship, the Bonhomme Richard. Their involvement and use of the motto "Semper et Ubique Fidelis" may have influenced the subsequent adoption of the motto "Semper Fidelis" by the U.S. Marines. Recruitment Until the Seven Years' War the British authorities had turned a blind eye to semi-organised recruitment within Ireland itself for the regiments of the Brigade. As long as the Irish troops were not employed against Britain or its allies, this was seen as a useful way of removing potentially discontented men of military age. In 1729 a confidential treaty between the French and British governments made provision for the engagement of 750 Irish recruits provided that this activity remained unpublicized. After the employment of the Irish Picquets in support of the Jacobite rising in Scotland showed the danger of such a policy, measures were taken to reduce the flow of Irish recruits to French service. Individual recruiters for the Irish Brigade were hanged if caught and during the Seven Years' War all British subjects in French service were declared traitors by Parliament and liable to execution if taken prisoner. This draconian measure does not however appear to have been implemented, except where individual prisoners of war were identified as having first deserted from the British Army. By the eve of the French Revolution in 1789 direct Irish recruitment into the Irish Brigade had diminished to a limited number having the motive and opportunity to make their own way to France. Irishmen serving in the British Army and taken prisoner during the French wars might find themselves being encouraged to literally change their coats and enlist in the Brigade. The shortfall in numbers was made up by the increasing substitution of German, Swiss and other foreigners, plus some Frenchmen. The officers, however, were mainly drawn from Franco-Irish families which might have existed for several generations since their founders had migrated to France. Distinguished military service led to such families being accepted into the French aristocracy while retaining their Irish names and consciousness of origin. Uniforms and flags The Irish Brigade wore red coats throughout the eighteenth century with different facing colours to distinguish each regiment. It has been suggested that the red coat was an expression of their loyalty to the Stuart claimants to the throne of Britain