This civil service was charged with control of forts, ammunition, stores, buildings and an ordnance depot left by the departing British Military.

[1] The Militia component of the now-Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps was not authorized until 1912, and redesignated with the Royal prefix in 1936 (probably on 29 April 1936).

King George VI granted the RCE the same mottoes as the Royal Army Service Corps, which was one of its British equivalents.

Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense (French, "Shame to Him Who Thinks Evil of It") was the motto used since 1937.

As a matter of honour, King George V, the Canadian monarch bestowed on the organization the right to use the prefix royal before its name.

[4] The badge of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps consists of a belt, with a Kings Crown on top, with the text "Honi Soit qui mal y pense" with six maple leaves around the edge.

In mid-June 1944, the band performed in Normandy following the D-Day landings, during which the director of music recalled that "we were mobbed by the troops particularly after we played the Colonel Bogey March which everyone enjoyed".

[8] In September 1959, the band performed the Vice-Regal Salute for Georges Vanier during his swearing-in as Governor General of Canada in Ottawa.