The King, Head of the Armed Forces, accompanied by The Queen Consort, presented new Standards and Colours to the Royal Navy, the Life Guards of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, The King’s Company of the Grenadier Guards and The King’s Colour Squadron of the Royal Air Force at Buckingham Palace on 27 April.

The parade will take place in the Quadrangle and Garden of Buckingham Palace, and marks the first Colours presentation at which all three Services of the Armed Forces were represented.

The four Colours and Standards consecrated will be seen during Their Majesties’ Coronation Procession on Saturday, 6th May.

Firstly, in the Quadrangle of Buckingham Palace, the King received a Royal Salute from the Life Guards of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

The new Standard of the Life Guards were consecrated by the Chaplain General, before being presented by The King to the Regiment. 

The King was then joined by The Queen Consort, Colonel, Grenadier Guards, on the North Lawn of the Garden of Buckingham Palace where personnel from the Royal Navy, The King’s Company of the Grenadier Guards and The King’s Colour Squadron of the Royal Air Force were assembled, alongside the Royal Marines Band and the Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment. 

Their Majesties were met by a Royal Salute and National Anthem, before the colours were blessed by the three Service Chaplains.

The King then officially presented the new Colours, and then gave a short speech:

“It is the greatest possible privilege to be able to present a new Standard and Colours to you today in a unique Tri-Service event in preparation for our Coronation.

It is some eighty-five years since a King’s Colour has been presented and, on such a special occasion, I particularly wanted to express my heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you, as representatives from the three Services, for your loyal service over the course of her remarkable reign, to the late Queen who, I know, held you all in such high regard.”

There was a final Royal Salute before the parade marched off.

About Colours and Standards

The term ‘Colours’ appears to have come into regular usage in the late 16th Century, when they were used as rallying points on the battlefield, helping troops locate each other and avoid becoming disorientated during the fog of war.

Today, Colours are a formalised continuation of the ancient battlefield practice mentioned above, being the ceremonial evidence of the spirit of a Service or Regiment.

(Source and Images: Royal.uk)