Military colours, standards and guidons

In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 years ago.

[citation needed] Due to the advent of modern weapons, and subsequent changes in tactics, colours are no longer carried into battle, but continue to be used at events of formal character.

In 2023, a new Chinese-derived design but also harking to the days of the old kingdoms on Cambodian territories, debuted - it's a unified design with the insignia of the unit or formation at the center and the unit name in Khmer below but with the colors differing per service: The People's Liberation Army is the overall body for the entire armed forces of the People's Republic of China, and is represented by a single flag, which serves as a ceremonial colour for all regiments and larger formations.

This is based on the national flag, but has instead of the four smaller gold stars the Chinese characters for the numerals '8' and '1', which stand for 1 August, the day in 1927 that the PLA was founded.

Test battle colours had been given to the People's Armed Police some years before the practice was adopted by the PLA Ground Forces on an experimental period.

In 1993, as part of the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Korean War and the 45th since the founding of the DPRK, the old colour was replaced by the designs seen for over three decades in major holiday parades.

All the colours shared the same reverse with the emblem of the Workers' Party of Korea in gold and, save for the Worker-Peasant Red Guards, have identical gold letting in Hangul which states "Revolutionary armed forces of the Workers' Party of Korea, Korean People's Army [unit name] / No.425 unit (in ceremonies)" (조선로동당의 혁명적무장력인 조선인민군 제425 군부대), the 425 number honouring the date (25 April) of the 1932 foundation of the People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Army, whose lineage is continued by the current service, but with the same colours as in the obverse, which also shows the 4.25 mark in gold numbering.

(조국의 무궁한 번영과 인민의 안녕을 위하여), and the 4.25 mark was finally removed, with the date of the service branch or unit raising now replacing it.

The ceremony is steeped in Buddhist and Brahmic heritage; it symbolizes and cements the King's role as Chief Kshatriya (กษัตริย์) or Warrior ruler of his realm.

The Corps of Royal Marines has a single pattern king's colour, which is the Union Flag with the foul anchor and the reigning sovereign's cypher interlaced in the centre.

The modern French Armed Forces are not officially considered to be the successors of the Royal Army and Navy, although many of their individual units trace their histories to before the foundation of the First Republic.

The names of battles of the old times, however, which are rightly still considered as glorious by the modern French Army, are honoured by being given to ships or armoured vehicles, and remembered by anniversaries.

The colours of Air Force (armée de l'Air) units are by all means similar to those of the Army from which it separated as an independent military arm in 1933.

At the height of European colonial expansion in the 19th century, France's army and Britain's navy were each regarded as the most powerful forces ever on land and at sea.

The flagpole is a 21-centimeter long, stylized leaf-shaped sandblasted brass, on both sides with a baroque, bronze Coat of arms of Hungary, without shield holders.

It is mounted on a pike 2.2 m long, made of wood covered with green velvet and decorated with ornate brass nails arranged in a spiral.

The official model for the military colours was established in 1911 and states that they should measure 120 cm in the hoist by 130 cm in the fly, the field being vertically divided in green and red, with the National coat of arms in the centre, surrounded by two golden olive branches tied by a white scroll containing the motto Esta é a Ditosa Pátria Minha Amada (This is my Beloved Blissful Fatherland).

The ensign is in turn identical to the national flag, being made of ordinary canvas in various dimensions, according to the ship's rank, size and place of hoisting.

[20] Exceptions from this rule are:[20] A colour is normally granted to the following by the King, by the Prime Minister or the Commander of the Armed Forces:[20] The Ottoman army often used verses from the Quran and Shahada (There is no god but Allah.

In 1410, Ruthenian troops took part in the Battle of Grunwald on the side of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania against their old ally from the time of the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia, the Teutonic Order.

[22]In 1646, for the campaign against the Turks, Wladyslav IV Vasa provided a flag: ironically, it was under this banner that the Cossacks won their first resounding victories over the Polish army during the Khmelnytskyj uprising — at Yellow Waters, Korsun, and Pyliavtsi.

Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Tsentralna Rada came to power in Ukraine in spring of 1917, it was forced to promptly put together an army to defend the new republic against their enemies.

The main requests of the congress were proclamation of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic, full Ukrainization of army and navy, and an immediate peace treaty.

Active duty NG units sport dark blue colours with the Orthodox Cross, grenade and the coat of arms at the corners.

El Salvador's military colours under the Salvadoran Armed Forces heavily follow US models, as the Salvadoran flag, with gold fringe, is treated as a National Colour- but its design is based on the American Civil War example and Argentine and Mexican precedence: the name of the unit is on the bottom blue stripe of the colour in gold lettering.

Since 2017, the 16th Infantry Regiment Talca became the first to sport a blue coloured bandera coronela in honour of its origins as a city guard battalion formed during the War of the Pacific.

below and the inscription Supreme Commander of the Bolivarian Revolution (Comandante Supremo de la Revolución Bolivariana) and the eight golden stars from the National Flag above it, plus the Memorial Colour of the Liberator and Father of the Nation (introduced in the summer of 2016), which is of the same colour facing but with the wreath containing the portrait of Simon Bolivar, the eight gold stars and his title above and the words Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence (Libertad, Soberania e Independencia) below the title, all in gold.

Cavalry (armour) units carry a standard (Danish: estandart), of similar design to the infantry colour, but smaller and square, with the cross centred on the field.

The étendard is a 64 × 64 cm square flag similar to the drapeaux carried by the units of foot, with the same design: the regimental name at the obverse and the battle honours at the reserve.

Some of the Portuguese uniformed security forces and civil emergency organizations also make use of heraldic standards, guidons and pennants, usually modelled after the military ones.