Which color should I paint the shoulder pad rims of my Bladeguard?

[ZeroWolf]

As there's only a week and a bit left to Leviathan drops and takes my hobbying time, I decided to go back and finish some more units for my Ultramarines that I'd left in various stages of completely. One of these were the Indomitus Bladeguard. Now, I had it in my head that Bladeguard was just an alternative role that those in the First Company could fulfill, like Sternguard etc etc. Yet on the GW store and other places they're 2nd company?

 

I know ultimately that it's my choice but it does confuse me.

 

So question is, Bladeguard white shoulder pad rim, yay or nay?

[Karhedron]

When in doubt, always refer to the First Law of modelling....

 

1. They are your models so paint them how you like! 

[Casual Heresy]

There is a snippet of lore that says units attached to a battle company for a mission or campaign will often take on the company colours of whichever company they're assigned to. So would make perfect sense for a squad of bladeguard to have non-white trims. Alternatively, maybe they've kept their veteran's white to mark them out on the battlefield, either as an inspiration to the line units or to draw out enemy champions looking for a challenge?

[Castellan Wulfrik]

You don't have to be part of the first company to be a veteran, veteran honours are often given to members of other companies if they've earnt the status before the opportunity to join the first opens up. Veteran sergeants are a good example of this. Anyway chapter organisation has been a mess since the introduction of Primaris units, it's best to just not worry about it and do what you want. I personally just consider the Bladeguard as representative of veterans who've chosen to go into battle using a storm shield or an honour guard squad. Just because the unit entry says it's one thing, doesn't stop you from using it to represent something else. 

[ZeroWolf]

Thanks for the replies! I think I'll go with 2nd Company for now then.

[Guest]

I did this for my 4th.

 

[Tacitus]

As people have pointed out there's a hundred different fluff reasons for either scheme:

 

There's usually a period where First Company Sergeants rotate out of the first company to become Veteran Sergeants in Battle Companies before they become Lieutenants and Captains.  Its entirely possible the Captain of the XYZ company has gathered all his Veteran Sergeants into a Blade Guard Veteran's unit.   It could be Veterans waiting for a spot in the First Company to open up.  It could even be First Company Blade Guard in the company livery they're detached to.