Trooping the Colour

Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of Household Division, to celebrate the official birthday of the British sovereign.

Once obtained, the colour is displayed at the head of the march past the sovereign in slow and quick time, by the Foot Guards, the Household Cavalry, and the King's Troop.

It coincides with publication of the Birthday Honours List, and usually takes place at Horse Guards Parade by St James's Park, London.

Over the years, commentary for the annual live broadcast in the UK by BBC1 has been provided by Huw Edwards and also by Clare Balding, together with expert guests and interviews with some of the personnel involved.

For the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, additional live videos commentary of the parade for international viewers were provided by Sky News UK and The Daily Telegraph newspaper's YouTube channels.

Queen Elizabeth II attended Trooping the Colour in every year of her reign, except in 1955 when the event was cancelled due to a national rail strike.

[citation needed] Her 80th birthday in 2006 was marked by a large flypast of 40 planes led by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and culminating with the Red Arrows.

The Garrison Sergeant Major of London District, who is not mounted, coordinates the whole event on the parade ground and the approach road from The Mall.

The entire parade is best understood as an exercise of several elements carried out in slow and quick march time, with the Trooping the Colour phase forming the centrepiece.

With the foot guards in their home service order and the mounted band in state dress uniform, the assembled ranks of Household Division make a colourful spectacle.

Preceding the sovereign, senior members of the royal family arrive in barouches to view the ceremony from a central first floor window in the Duke of Wellington's former office in Horse Guards Building.

BBC television commentaries every year emphasise the King's knowledge of the attributes of his guards, and single out "steadiness" as a highly prized quality for a guardsman.

The accompanying marches always carry a flavour of the regiment whose colour is being trooped on the day, lending the royal inspection a unique atmosphere.

Under the command of the Senior Drum Major, the Massed Bands march and countermarch on Horse Guards Parade in slow and quick time.

Simultaneously, turning outward at an angle of 45°, the NCOs (non-commissioned officers) at the four corners (or flanks) of the Escort port arms, described in annual television commentary and analysis as "protection" for the colour.

The celebrated spinwheel is largely individual and instinctive: A 'wheel' is not an easy manoeuvre with even a small body of troops, and with a block of 400 men the normal wheel is impossible.

6 Guard, the music stops, and the Field Officer in Brigade Waiting orders the entire parade (except the Escort) to present arms as the trooping proper starts.

Forming divisions once more, accompanied by the Corps of Drums, the guards prepare to march off, and the Household Cavalry and the King's Troop leave the field.

The King's Troop and the HAC, now in place, get ready to commence firing their respective gun salutes during the Royal Family's arrival at the palace.

Colours were again presented by Queen Elizabeth II on 10 May 1988[35] and most recently on 22 October 2011 during a brief visit to Australia, coinciding with RMC Duntroon's centenary year.

The Governor-General of Australia, being the King's representative in the Commonwealth, is the reviewing officer of the parade, and since the move to Rod Field has been attended by the public as well.

The ceremony takes place on Black Star Square, where the national salute is taken by the President of Ghana in his, or her, position as commander in chief of the GAF.

The main differences are that five colours are trooped, covering all three branches of the Armed Forces, and some of marches played are locally composed.

The 2014 event was held on Friday, 13 June, at Kem Perdana, Sungai Besi, which was a departure from normal tradition of the Saturday troopings.

This was the very first time in Malaysian history that Trooping the Colour was held on the Friday in June closest to the King's Birthday, rather than the traditional first Saturday of the month.

With the move to September the Trooping the Colours in Putrajaya ends more than a month of national celebrations in honour of the anniversary of Malaysian independence in 1957 and the formation of the armed forces in 1932.

It is held on special occasions and is toned down as compared to the British version and is done after the awarding of the State Colours to the Best units of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The Ugandan Armed Forces performs a Trooping the Colour on Independence Day on Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in the national capital, with salute being taken by the President of Uganda.

On 25 April 1954, a date which was later designated as Tanlwe Chaung Day, the Rhodesian African Rifles performed the first ever Trooping of the Colour in Southern Rhodesia in the presence of Governor General Lord Llewellin.

[48] Jordan hosted its first Trooping the Colour – the first in the Middle East – in June 2016 celebrating the centenary of the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

Trooping the Colour, Horseguards Parade, Central London, June 2013
Trooping the Colour in 1890
Trooping the Colour in 1956
Queen Elizabeth II with the Duke of Edinburgh at Trooping the Colour, June 2012
King Charles III (left), in the uniform of the Welsh Guards, is followed by William, Prince of Wales , Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh and Anne, Princess Royal in 2023.
A company of Welsh Guards , recognisable by the leeks on their collars and five-button groupings on their jackets, denoting their status as the most junior of the five Foot Guards regiments
Mounted band of the Household Cavalry at Trooping the Colour 2007. The rider of the piebald (black-and-white) drum horse, working the reins with his feet, crosses drumsticks above his head in salute.
Musicians of the Foot Guards marching along the Mall , June 2012
Colour marker point marching at end of parade
Carriage carrying the then Duchess of Cornwall , Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex , June 2019
Elizabeth II riding to Trooping the Colour for the last time in 1986 on her horse Burmese . She travelled in a carriage of the Royal Mews for the remainder of her reign.
The Queen inspects the foot guards, the Royal Colonels following her. Foreground: backs of No. 6 Guard. Background: garden of 10 Downing Street and massed bands.
Massed bands of the foot guards, 16 June 2007
In the centre, holding his sword and the Colour, the Regimental Sgt-Major of No. 1 Guard. Behind him, wearing a white flag belt, the Ensign waits to receive the Colour, standing in front of No. 1 Guard. To the right, the Massed Bands.
From front to back: Guards Nos. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 in ranks of two. Background at left: massed bands.
Footguards march past in Slow Time at the Colonel's Review in 2008.
Blues and Royals, one of the two regiments of the Household Cavalry, in their characteristic red plumes and dark blue uniforms
Members of King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, returning along the Mall
Balcony appearance by the royal family following the 2012 Trooping the Colour
Red Arrows flypast after the ceremony, 15 June 2013
The Colonel's Review in 2012.
The RMC Duntroon Trooping the Colour ceremony, 6 June 2015, at Anzac Parade . Present include the Governor-General of Australia , the Chief of the Defence Force , the Chief of Army , the Chief of Navy , and the Commandant, RMC.
Trooping the Colour in Al-Rayah Square, Jordan 2016