by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2017

(Note: After Trooping the Colour on June 17, 2023, we will update the photos.)

• British Monarchy: What is Trooping the Colour?
• The Household Division: Trooping the Colour
• Wikipedia: Trooping the Colour
• YouTube: BBC One Platinum Jubilee 2022 Trooping the Colour

On a Saturday in June, the British Sovereign presides at Trooping The Colour, also known as The King’s or Queen’s Birthday Parade, at Horse Guards Parade, a large parade ground by St James’s Park in London, to mark the Sovereign’s official birthday. June 17, 2023 was King Charles III’s first Trooping of the Colour as Sovereign. His actual birthday is November 14. Over 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians participate in this great display of military precision, horsemanship, and fanfare.

Trooping the Colour was first performed during the reign of King Charles II (reigned 1660 – 1685). In 1748 it was decided that Trooping the Colour should mark the official birthday of the Sovereign, and in 1760, after the accession of King George III, it became an annual event. During the reign of King George III, an additional Trooping was often held to celebrate Queen Charlotte’s birthday as well. King Edward VII (reigned 1901- 1910) moved the Sovereign’s Birthday Parade to June to take advantage of the better weather. Since his reign, the Sovereign has personally attended and taken the Royal Salute nearly every year.

Regimental flags of the British Army were historically described as ‘Colours’ because they displayed the uniform Colours and insignia worn by the soldiers of different units.  Each regiment’s Colours provided a rallying point on the battlefield. This was important because, without modern communications, it was easy for soldiers to become disoriented and separated from their unit during battle. Military regiments would troop their Colours – parade their flag – through the regiment each day, to ensure that all members would recognize it. If soldiers became separated from their regiment during battle, they would be able to find their unit by finding their Colours.

Participating in the event are the various companies of the Household Division and The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. The Household Division is comprised of:

• The Household Cavalry
• Life Guards
• Blues and Royals
• Foot Guards
• Grenadier Guards
• Coldstream Guards
• Scots Guards
• Irish Guards
• Welsh Guards

Each year, one of the battalions of the Foot Guards is chosen to Troop its Colour before the Sovereign. This battalion is known as No. 1 Guard, and during the parade is known as ‘Escort For The Colour’. Once they have collected their Colour during the ceremony, they become the ‘Escort To The Colour’.

The event begins with the assembly of the Foot Guards on Horse Guards Parade. They form an extended L-shape, along the western and southern sides of the parade grounds. The colour is held by the Colour Party – comprised of an officer and two guardsmen of the No. 1 Guard – near the center of the parade ground. On the southern side, the Massed Bands assemble. The Massed Bands consist of the bands of the various Foot Guards, the Mounted Band of the Household Cavalry, and a Corps of Drums. Often, pipe bands of the Scots and Irish Guards are also included. The King’s Troop, The Household Cavalry and the mounted bands proceed into the parade grounds and assemble on either side of the Guards Memorial, located on the western side of the grounds.

 

At about the same time, the Royal Procession departs from Buckingham Palace and moves from Buckingham Palace and down The Mall to Horse Guards Parade. Members of the Royal Family, other than the Royal Colonels, arrive in carriages and proceed to Horse Guards Parade where they watch the events from a central first-floor window in the Duke of Wellington’s former office in Horse Guards Building.

Preceded by the Sovereign’s Escort, the Sovereign who is Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiments of Household Division, travels from Buckingham Palace down the Mall, on horseback, if physically able. If not physically able, the Sovereign travels in a carriage. Directly behind the Sovereign are the Royal Colonels, riding on horseback or in carriages if not physically able to ride. The Royal Colonels are followed by the non-royal Colonels of Regiments of the Coldstream Guards and the Life Guards) and other officers of the Household Division and the Royal Household.

The Royal Colonels currently are:

• Colonel, Grenadier Guards – The Queen Consort
• Colonel, Welsh Guards – The Prince of Wales
• Colonel, Irish Guards – The Princess of Wales
• Colonel, Blue and Royals – The Princess Royal
• Colonel, Scots Guards – The Duke of Kent

The two non-royal Colonels currently are:

• Colonel, Life Guards – Lieutenant General Sir Ed Smyth-Osbourne
• Colonel, Coldstream Guards – Lieutenant General Sir James Bucknall

 

After crossing the Parade Ground, the Sovereign will proceed to the Saluting Base to start the ceremonies. The field officer gives the command: “Guards – Royal Salute – Present Arms!” and the national anthem is played by the Household Division’s Foot Guards Massed Bands while the Royal Standard is raised and flown from the Horse Guards flagpole.

The Sovereign then rides off from the saluting base (or is driven in a carriage if unable to ride) before and behind the long line of assembled guards, followed by the Royal Colonels, and reviews the Foot Guards, followed by the Household Cavalry and King’s Troop. Once the Sovereign has returned to the Saluting Base, the Massed Bands parade before him/her to various music. A lone drummer takes his place near the No. 1 Guard – the Escort For The Colour – and gives the Drummer’s Call. This is the signal for the Escort For The Colour to march to the center of the parade grounds to get the colour from the Colour Party.

Trooping the Colour, 2022

An ensign from the No. 1 Guard proceeds to the Colour Party to take possession of the Colour. Once he has taken the Colour, No. 1 Guard becomes Escort To The Colour. The No. 1 Guard then proceed to Troop The Colour through the rest of the Foot Guard companies. Led by No. 1 Guard, all of the Foot Guard units parade past the Sovereign, and around Horse Guards. Each time they pass the Sovereign, a salute is given. The No. 1 guard has a distinctive honor. When passing the Sovereign, their colour is lowered – known as the flourish – and is acknowledged by a bow of the head from the Sovereign. Following the Foot Guards, the Household Cavalry and King’s Troop also parade twice around the grounds and give their salutes to the Sovereign.

 

After a final salute from all seven regiments of the Household Division, The King’s Troop leaves Horse Guards for Green Park, where they will conduct a 41-gun salute upon the Sovereign’s arrival back at Buckingham Palace. At the same time, a 62-gun salute will take place at The Tower of London, conducted by the Honourable Artillery Company. The Sovereign returns to his/her horse or carriage and takes his/her place at the head of the Foot Guards. Led by the Massed Bands, the procession returns to The Mall and back to Buckingham Palace.

 

Upon arrival at the gates of the palace, the Sovereign takes another salute from the remaining Foot Guards and the mounted troops, and the gun salutes from Green Park and The Tower of London take place. The Sovereign then returns to the palace, where he/she is joined on the balcony by many of the Royal Family to watch a flypast of the Royal Air Force. This is the one balcony appearance each year which typically features most of the extended Royal Family.

The Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in 2016

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