Regulation Colours

Regulation Colours

United Kingdom military units usually carry two Regulation Colours. These are the Regulation Queen's Colour and Regulation Regimental Colour. These are often referred to as the Standard or Ensign.

Colours are the identifying battle flags carried by military regiments to show where their respective troops should rally to in battle. Originally these were 6'6" x 6" in size, though have now been reduced to 3'9" x 3', as regiments no longer carry their colours on the battlefield.

Prior to 1743, each regiment was responsible for the design and quantity of standards carried, often with each company having its own design. In that year King George II issued a royal warrant to require each regiment to have, as their first colour, the King's colour. It was also to consist of the Union flag throughout, as a symbol of royal allegiance. The second colour was to be the colour of the facings (uniform linings) of each Regiment, with the Union flag in the upper canton. When Regiments had red or white facings, this was to be replaced by the red cross of St George on a white background.

A second royal warrant was issued in 1747, requiring the Regimental number to be displayed on the colours. As many regiments at that time were known by the name of the Regimental Colonel instead of a number, this requirement was often ignored. On July 1, 1751 a third royal warrant was issued stating "No Colonel is to put his Arms, Crest, Device, or Livery on any part of the Appointments of the Regiment under his Command."

Over time, these colours have evolved to include the battle honors awarded to each Regiment, though these have also been limited.

Only one British Regiment carries more than two colours on parade. This is the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding). The 'Dukes', uniquely, carry four colours. The second pair consists of a stand of honorary battle flags, which are the original size of 6'6" x 6'. These honorary colours, Queen's honorary colour and regimental honorary colour, were awarded to the 76th Regiment of Foot, which later to become the 2nd Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in 1808, by the Honorable East India Company for their distinguished services during the Battle of Ally Ghur and again at Delhi between 1802 and 1804.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Regulation on Community designs — EU regulation title=Regulation on Community designs number= (EC) No 6/2002 madeby=European Council madeunder=Art. 308 OJref=L3, 2002 01 05, pp. 1 ndash;24 made=2001 12 12 commenced=2002 03 06 application=2003 04 01 CommProp=C29, 1994 01 31, p. 20 …   Wikipedia

  • Historical colours, standards and guidons — oviet UnionEach regiment in the armed forces of the Soviet Union had its own Regimental Colour, which was produced to a standard design: *Obverse red field, a red star yellow bordered and the full name and number of a military unit below. Each… …   Wikipedia

  • Liturgical Colours —     Liturgical Colours     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Liturgical Colours     By a law of her liturgy the Church directs that the vestments worn by her sacred ministers, and the drapery used in the decoration of the altar should correspond in… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Duke of Wellington's Regiment — The Duke of Wellington s Regiment (West Riding) Cap badge of the Duke of Wellington s Regiment Active 1 July 1702 6 June 2006 Cou …   Wikipedia

  • Kalocsa — Infobox Settlement image caption = Archiepiscopal Palace subdivision type = Country subdivision name = HUN timezone=CET utc offset=+1 timezone DST=CEST utc offset DST=+2 pushpin pushpin label position = pushpin map caption =Location of Kalocsa… …   Wikipedia

  • Flag of Romania — Infobox flag Name = Romania Article = Use = 111111 Symbol = Proportion = 2:3 Adoption =26 June 1848 1 July 1866 27 December 1989 16 July 1994 Design = A vertical tricolour of blue, yellow, and red, with stripes of equal width and blue near the… …   Wikipedia

  • Business and Industry Review — ▪ 1999 Introduction Overview        Annual Average Rates of Growth of Manufacturing Output, 1980 97, Table Pattern of Output, 1994 97, Table Index Numbers of Production, Employment, and Productivity in Manufacturing Industries, Table (For Annual… …   Universalium

  • Military uniform — This article is about standardised military dress. For military protective clothing, see Armour. French, Belgian, Portuguese, Indonesian and Indian military personnel in uniform during a parade in Rome, Italy Military uniforms comprises… …   Wikipedia

  • Life Sciences — ▪ 2009 Introduction Zoology       In 2008 several zoological studies provided new insights into how species life history traits (such as the timing of reproduction or the length of life of adult individuals) are derived in part as responses to… …   Universalium

  • Military beret — US Army Private wearing Black beret with Distinctive Unit Insignia (Unit Crest) on the US Army Beret Flash Berets have been a component of the uniforms of many armed forces throughout the world since the mid 20th century. Military berets are… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”