Presentation of Colours
The Presentation of Colours is a military ceremony that marks an anniversary or significant event in the history of a particular regiment or similar military unit. This involves the presentation of a new version of the regimental colour to a regiment or equivalent formation in their respective armed forces service branch. This is a traditional ceremony that was pioneered by the British Armed Forces and is today used in most Commonwealth countries.[1][2][3]
Background
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In the military, the colours originally acted as a rallying point for troops and as a way to locate their commander.[1] It originated in Ancient Egypt around 5,000 years ago, with the practice also being used in the Roman Empire and the Roman army specifically. It was made more significant in the Middle Ages when military colours were formalised with the coat of arms of the country. Colour guards at the time were introduced to escort the colour, and to make sure that the colour never was damaged. Today, colours are no longer carried into battle,[1][4] due to the creation of modern weapons and the advancement of warfare and communications. Colours are now used as part of a regiment's tradition and symbolise the unit's identity, and are used at formal events.[1][4][5][failed verification][6]
The ceremony in most Commonwealth countries (particularly those of the former British Empire) concerns the entrustment to the concerned unit of either one or two colours, if for the latter case, the colours are a Sovereign's or National / Presidential Colour and the Regimental Colour (for the infantry, air force combat commands and naval establishments, as well as military educational centres) or the Sovereign's / Presidential Standard / Guidon (for cavalry units and training establishments).[1] As a matter of tradition, colours are never issued to the light infantry, artillery, engineers and support branches, although differences exist (like in the armed forces of India, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka (save for light infantry), and Bangladesh).[4][7]
Although primarily a military service, the Presentation of Colours may occasionally occur for non-combat public services such as the police; notable examples include the presentation of new a colour to the Royal Brunei Police Force, Brunei Darussalam in 1971, and the Railway Protection Force, India in 2006.[8]
Ceremony
[edit]The formation for the parade is a battalion-sized (100–500 soldiers) formation of military units of an armed forces formation from Commonwealth countries (from either the navy, army, or air force). From four to ten companies is the usual size of the parade and a military band combined with a corps of drums or pipes and drums providing the ceremonial music is present. The parade commander, the field officer holding the rank of a major or lieutenant colonel (commander or lieutenant commander in the navy, wing commander or squadron leader in the air force), takes his place in the centre of the parade field, assisted by the second-in-command and the parade adjutant.
With the regimental colonel-in-chief usually being the reviewing officer during the ceremony (other instances include members of the royal family in the United Kingdom / Commonwealth realms, the governor-general representing the royal family, the crown prince or king such as the one in Malaysia and Brunei, and or the president/head of state for other countries or in other cases the service branch or armed forces chief from the armed forces or service branches in these countries[9]), upon their arrival, a royal salute (or presidential salute) from the regiment is executed, and then the guest inspects the combined guard of honour from the regiment as the band plays a slow march, in addition to the optional firing of a 21-gun salute. If the guest is a military general or flag-ranked officer, a general salute is executed by the formation before the inspection can begin.
After the inspection, a stick orderly will walk to the rear of the formation to receive the pace stick from the regimental sergeant major (who has a billet of a warrant officer) who will then draw their sword (symbolising the protection of the colours). The regiment's first company will then quickly march, usually in Commonwealth realms, to the tune of The British Grenadiers (irrespective of the regiment), to which the ceremony proceeds similarly to the Trooping of the Colour ceremony in London, with the 'Escort to the Colour' receiving the old colour so that they can troop it through the ranks of the rest of the regiment, preceded by a salute to the colours by the escort, usually with the band playing an abbreviated version of the national or royal anthem. After this part of the ceremony, the old colours of the regiment will be retired by the colour party in a slow march (most likely to the tune of Auld Lang Syne in Commonwealth Realms). After the old colours are officially retired, they are then laid up on a display (typically in the regimental chapel or the officer's mess,[4] for example) as it will never be paraded by the regiment again. In British and Canadian practice, regimental colours are often laid up in a church or cathedral until they have almost totally disintegrated, which might take a century or more; at this point, the remains of the colour and its staff are then removed and cremated on consecrated ground.[4][10]
After this part of the ceremony, members of the corps of drums will form a spiritual altar from their instruments, after which the quartermaster will at that point bring out the new colour, earlier removed of its casing, and place it on top of the pile. Religious figures in the regiment (mostly from the Christian faith) will then give a blessing to the colours, the regiment, and the service branch.[11] With this part being complete, the reviewing officer will briefly address the regiment to which they presented the colours to, which will be concluded with the speaker expressing confidence in the regiment, and the regimental commander thanking the reviewing officer for their words. Following this, the reviewing officer entrusts the colour(s), which had already been removed from the pile by non-commissioned officers (NCOs) earlier, to the colour ensign(s) of the unit holding the rank of second lieutenant (or pilot officer or ensign/sub-lieutenant depending on the service branch).
Once the drummers and commanders retire to their previous positions (in the band and the regiment respectively), the new colours are then marched to their position in a formation to the tune of the regimental march[6] or the national anthem of the country in slow march. This will signal the start of the regimental march past for the reviewing officer who stands on a makeshift saluting base (or dais). While marching in a slow march, the new colours will be lowered (flourished) to the ground to show respect to the reviewing officer, if in a quick march, they are not.[12]
An Advance in Review Order is used to signal the end of the presentation of colours ceremony, by which the regiment offers a final royal salute / presidential salute (usually by presenting arms), followed by the optional three cheers. Following this, either the guest departs from the tribune and the entire parade marches out with the new colours, or the ceremony reforms to march past order to render a final salute to the guest following the final report by the parade commander, and the whole unit marches out in that manner with the band marching out last.
In Malaysia, the order of the presentation is different. In the case of the presentation of new colours to existing units, following the inspection of the ranks by the reviewing officer, the old colour is retired, followed by the presentation of the new colour, prayers and the speech, followed by the handover of the new colour to the ensign and the trooping of the newly presented colour through the ranks before the march past in both slow and quick march, as well as the performance of the state or national anthem if the reviewing officer is either the King of Malaysia or state sultans, who are the colonels-in-chief of their respective units.[13] In India, in reflection of the country's diverse religions, the colours consecration prayers are offered by military chaplains of religions represented in the armed forces (Hinduism,