Hunt is on for princely Charlie image

The artist of the image on the left is unknown, while the right shows Antonio David's portrayal of Bonnie Prince Charlie

A group bent on saving the legacy of the prince's greatest victory, at the Battle of Prestonpans outside Edinburgh, has called for nominations for a substitute portrait.

For years, the Battle of Prestonpans Heritage Trust used the famous painting of Prince Charles Edward Stewart in armour, by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, on its promotional literature.

The portrait was widely reprinted as Scotland's most striking likeness of the Jacobite leader in his prime.

But late last year, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) conceded that "on balance" after new research, it probably showed his younger brother, Prince Henry.

The trust's chairman, Dr Gordon Prestoungrange, said: "Having striking and recognisable images on promotional material is crucial and we need to find an image of Charlie that is both recognisable and portrays him as the hero he was perceived as in 1745."

It was important to have a reliable portrait to put a face on one of Scotland's most historic "exports", he said.

The trust's current favourite is a portrait attributed to Allan Ramsay, belonging to the Derby Museum and Art Gallery, in the city where Prince Charles Edward Stewart's advance into England halted.

It is one of a pair of portraits kept in storage there. The other is of Clementina Walkinshaw, his long-time mistress.

"The nice thing about them is they are probably fairly contemporary, where a lot of the other pictures show the prince a couple of years younger, before the rebellion," said Arran Johnson, who works as a historian for the trust.

"It probably is a Ramsay, and was done shortly after the events of 1745. Although he's not wearing armour, he's wearing a military-style coat."

The SNPG has at two further portraits of the prince but one, by the Irish artist Hugh Douglas Hamilton, shows him near the end of his life while the other, by Antonio David, portrays him at the age of 12.

Other leading candidates include a portrait by Louis Gabriel Blanchet, part of the royal collection of art, and which hangs in Holyrood Palace.

Duncan Thomson, the former keeper of the SNPG, said: "If they are looking for an image, that is probably the most brilliant image of Bonnie Prince Charlie ever painted."

The National Portrait Gallery in London holds a full-length version of the Blanchet portrait, while the Victoria and Albert Museum also has a Bonnie Prince Charlie painting.

The site of the East Lothian battle of Prestonpans is often threatened by development. The trust has been campaigning since 2006 to have it safeguarded and interpreted with a major visitor centre. The trust is asking people with views on favourite portraits to make their choice known on its website, www.battleofprestonpans1745.org.