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In military organizations, the practice of carryingcolours,standards,flags, orguidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated inAncient Egypt some 5,000 years ago. TheRoman Empire also made battlestandards readingSPQR a part of their vast armies. It was formalized in the armies of Europe in theHigh Middle Ages, with standards being emblazoned with the commander'scoat of arms.
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Military colours originally had a practical use in battle. As armies became trained and adopted set formations, eachregiment's ability to keep its formation was potentially critical to its success, and therefore its entire army's success. In the chaos of battle, due to the amount of dust and smoke on a battlefield, soldiers needed to be able to determine where their regiment was.
Regimentalflags are generally awarded to a regiment by a head of state during a ceremony. They were therefore treated with respect as they represented the honour and traditions of the regiment. Colours may be inscribed with the names of battles or other symbols representing former achievements (seebattle honours).
Regiments tended to adopt "colour guards", composed of experienced or élite soldiers, to protect their colours. As a result, the capture of an enemy's standard was considered as a great feat of arms.
Standards and colours are never capriciously destroyed – when too old to use they are replaced and then laid up in museums, religious buildings and other places of significance to their regiment. However, in most modern armies, standing orders now call for the colours to be intentionally destroyed if they are ever in jeopardy of being captured by the enemy.[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.
InCambodia, the Colours of theMilitary and other uniformed institutions follow British, US, and French practice.
Until 2022, what was essentially a large version of theFlag of Cambodia with the unit name below in white in the bottom blue stripe was used as the King's Colour of RCAF formations before being reassigned as the National Colour for parades and ceremonies. 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:
ThePeople's Liberation Army is the overall body for the entire armed forces of thePeople'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 thenational flag, but has instead of the four smaller gold stars the Chinese characters for the numerals '8' and '1', which stand for1 August, the day in 1927 that the PLA was founded. When paraded, the flag is fringed in gold and mounted on a red-and-gold pole.
Each branch of the PLA has its own flag, based on the Army Flag (Banners of the PLA):
These, too, are not paraded publicly except with the same gold fringe as the Army flag.
Individual unit colours based on the PLA service colour would be introduced only from 2018 (and that, only on a test basis), when mobile contingents of units of the Northern Theater Command which took part in the joint military exercise "Vostok 2018" with theRussian Armed Forces carried red colours with the unit name on the white fringe nearest the flagpole. Test battle colours had been given to thePeople's Armed Police some years before the practice was adopted by the PLA Ground Forces on an experimental period. During the 1 October 2019 civil military parade marking the70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, a mobile colour guard unit debuted after many years the garrison colours awarded to every PLA formation and agency, which are red with the formation or agency name in Mandarin Chinese in white or gold lettering (but without the white fringe), with some colours bearing additional inscriptions bearing either battle honours or decorations awarded to the formation or agency concerned.
Thearmy of theRepublic of China (Taiwan) also has a single flag that it uses, which is red, with a banner of theBlue Sky with a White Sun in the centre. It has a red flagpole with silver spearheadfinial and red tassels immediately underneath. Individual units use a variation of the Army Flag as their own identifying Colour; this features a white strip next to the hoist, which has the unit's name in black characters, as well as a golden fringe (as is the case since 1961 for all units of theRepublic of China Armed Forces, but since 1947 were limited only to Army units above the regimental level). The army honour guard colour is in gold with the unit coat of arms in the centre.
TheRepublic of China Navy's colours were red but with the seal of the Navy in a dark blue canton in the centre until the 1980s, the honour guard company's colours only use both dark blue and the Navy seal, which are the same colours used today in other ROCN units.
For theRepublic of China Marine Corps, its unit battle colours, since 1960, mirrors that of the USMC but since the 1980s the unit name is on the white stripe near the hoist (just as the rest of the armed forces, formerly it was on a scroll similar to the USMC's).
The colours used by theRepublic of China Air Force are in sky blue with the air force seal in the centre (formerly it was red with the sky blue canton featuring the coat of arms, the old design only used today by the honour guard).
Units of theRepublic of China Military Police, formerly using a blue colour, now use a brown colour with the ROCMP arms.
Units reporting to theMinistry of National Defence sport an orange colour with the coast arms of the Ministry in the centre. Garrison colours are in blue with the Kuomintang emblem, a wheat wreath and 3 interlocked circles in yellow, red and blue respectively. Reserve units carry a red colour while the Taiwan Reserve uses a green one.
Only the following military academies sport their colours as the ROCAF colour is used by theRepublic of China Air Force Academy:
In all events whenever the ROCAF is involved, the ROC flag is used as the National colour.
InIndonesia, the Colours of theIndonesian National Armed Forces,Indonesian National Police and other uniformed institutions are known asPanji-panji. The Panji-panji is carried and escorted by a colour guard known as "Pataka", an abbreviation fromPasukan Tanda Kehormatan inIndonesian.[1]
During graduation and passing out parades, whenever the enlistment or commissioning pledge is taken, theflag of Indonesia is used as a national colour.
Mostly seen in parades are the service colours of the Indonesian National Armed Forces or TNI, the Indonesian National Police and theMunicipal Police units (known as thePanji-Panji Kesatuan/Lambang-Lambang Kesatuan). Within the TNI, service colours exist for all three service branches.Panji-panji means the military/service colours in Indonesian.
Non-military:
Tunggul andPataka are terms used to identify colours below the command or service specialty level within the Armed Forces, National Police and Municipal Police. The former are for battalion/squadron level units and military territorial commands or equivalents, the latter for brigades/regiments, divisions/regional commands and service specialty and operational commands. They share a common design: the unit heraldic arms is featured in the obverse while the emblem of its reporting formation is featured in the reverse side. All colours are gold fringed and carry a Garuda finial based on the national arms.
Within theTNI,Police andMunicipal Police, the speciality colours are:
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TheKorean People's Army is the overall body for the entire armed forces of theDemocratic People's Republic of Korea. Until 1993 the KPA was represented by a single flag, which served as a ceremonial colour for all regiments, educational institutions and larger formations. The colour is on the basis of thenational flag but with thenational emblem replacing the star[2] and on parades the colours were surrounded by gold fringe. The gold lettering in Hangul until 1961 was "For the independence of the motherland and the people" (조국의 독립과 인민을 위하여) or "For the freedom and independence of the Fatherland" (조국의 자유와 독립을 위하여, Guards units only), then replaced by "For the unification and independence of the Fatherland, and the freedom and happiness of the people" (조국의 통일, 독립과 인민의 자유와 행복을 위하여).
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 theWorkers' Party of Korea (WPK) 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. TheGuards units also had its badge beneath the 4.25 mark. In 2023, from a meeting of theWPK Central Military Commission, a new amended design based on the 1992–93 templates was introduced for the KPA with the new motto "For the endless prosperity of the fatherland and the security of the people!" (조국의 무궁한 번영과 인민의 안녕을 위하여) or alternatively "For our Party's Central Committee, the heart of the Revolution of Korea!" (조선혁명의 심장인 우리 당중앙위원회를 위하여, honour guards only), and the 4.25 mark was finally removed, with the date of the service branch or unit raising now replacing it. Guards formations retained their official emblem below the foundation date. The reverse of these colours was updated with the graphic pattern consist of a silhouette of theWPK headquarter and a red shield bearing the emblem of WPK in the middle, and additional motto "Let us defend the Party's Central Committee headed by Dear Comrade Kim Jong Un with all our lives!" (경애하는 김정은동지를 수반으로 하는 당중앙위원회를 목숨으로 사수하자!) at the top.[3] These colours are in gold fringe when brought out in public parades inPyongyang, the national capital, and during state visits by the honour guards of theSupreme Guard Command, which is an inter-service formation unlike the rest of the command whose personnel are drawn from the Ground Forces. The 1948–1961 design colours, since the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the Korean War in 2013, have been brought out only by guards units and KPA battalions sporting historical dress uniforms of the 1940s and early 1950s, the 1948 colours have a gold Guards Badge outline in the reverse to denote Guards status of the unit's colour while the colours only use the 1948 arms and motto instead of the current one.
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The traditions of military unit and branch colours of theRepublic of Korea Armed Forces are mostly derived from the Western practice with theFlag of South Korea treated as a National Colour.
Today each of the ROKAF's service branches have branch regimental colours, all gold fringed, which are carried by colour guards following a mix of Western traditions. The colours are as follows:
In major holiday parades two additional colours are paraded as part of the national colour guard.
Unit and specialty colours follow a mix of the Western models with influences from the Western model, sharing since the 1990s a common design with the unit name in Hangul below the emblem (in the Navy, the unit/command name is on a white scroll below following US precedence).
In addition, the traditional guard unit under the 3rd Infantry Division of the ROKA carries replica colours similar to those used during the Imperial era, that was used by Sumunjang or royal palace guards with its traditional military band,Daechwita. They are only brought out during state visits to the republic and on major holidays.
InLaos, the Colours of theMilitary and other uniformed institutions follow North Korean practice. It is basically a large version of theLaotian flag with the unit name below in white in the top and bottom red stripe.
Philippine military colours are theFlag of the Philippines as the National Colour, the Organizational Colours, and the Unit Battle Colour. The Flag of the Philippines is the National Colour of theArmed Forces of the Philippines, but unlike the US colour has no markings on the flag. The Organizational Colours are the flags of the AFP's four Major Service Commands while the Unit Battle Colour differs per service arm and unit. Like the US, it also has 2nd order guidons for companies and troops, but these are also based on the Spanish military guidons and banners, not on the American ones, reflecting the long history of the military establishment here. These guidons are therefore not swallow tailed save for the PMA, the Philippine Army's Escort and Security Btn and some other units under the Philippine Army.
The color facings of the Organizational Colours are:
Each unit of theRoyal Thai Armed Forces is given a colour called the "Thong Chai Chalermphol" (Thai:ธงชัยเฉลิมพล) or Victory Colours. These are presented to each unit personally by theKing of Thailand. The colours are divided into four different designs, for:Royal Thai Army,Royal Thai Navy,Royal Thai Air Force andKing's Guard units. Colours of the Navy carry no fringe, the rest have gold fringe. All carry the reigning monarch's cypher on the top right corner near the hoist.
Before their presentation, the colours are ceremonially blessed in a religious ceremony attended by Buddhist monks and other high ranking dignitaries inside theTemple of the Emerald Buddha inBangkok. During the ceremony amidst the chanting of the monks, the King will personally hammer the brass nails into the staff of each colour using a silver hammer. Each colour contains about 32–35 nails, in which the cloth is attached to the wooden staff. Within the same ceremony, the King will also take a strand of his own hair and conceal it within a compartment at the top of the staff, which is closed by a round silver screw top. The King will also attach each colour with its own ceremonial Buddha image, and bless each colour with holy water. The ceremony is steeped in Buddhist and Brahmic heritage; it symbolizes and cements the King's role as ChiefKshatriya (กษัตริย์) or Warrior ruler of his realm. It also emphasizes his constitutional role asHead and Chief of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย: Chomthap Thai).
These colours are similar to theFlag of Thailand and therefore are treated like the State Colours of the Commonwealth, but are not lowered to the ground but kept above it to the tune ofSansoen Phra Barami (the Royal Anthem) when salutes are rendered by these Colours to the Thai Royal Family (most especially the King and Queen) in all military events that they attend.
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Derivedflag of Vietnam is used as a National Colour by practically allVietnam People’s Army military formations. Defaced with the mottoQuyết thắng (lit. 'Determined to win'), in parades and ceremonial occasions, the flag can also be fringed in gold with any decorations and/or medals to attached in thecanton area by the motto. The formal name or designation of military units and components can also be inscribed below the golden star in ceremonial occasions. In general, Vietnam does not use distinctive colours or flag templates for different service branches and units. Maritime forces such as theNavy,Border Guard orMilitia actually have their own colouredensigns orjacks alongside their standardQuyết thắng scarlet colours, however they are largely to indicate thegovernmental authority and in-duty status, and not for use in parades or ceremonial purposes.
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Meanwhile, theVietnam People's Public Security also follows a very similar convention, however using a different motto:Bảo vệ an ninh Tổ quốc (lit. 'Protecting the security of the Fatherland').
A moth-eaten rag on a worm-eaten pole,
It does not look likely to stir a man's Soul,
'Tis the deeds that were done 'neath the moth-eaten rag,
When the pole was a staff, and the rag was a flag.
So long as its colors remain, and there is one man left to carry them, a regiment can never die; they can recruit it again around that one man, and the regiment will continue on its road to future glory with the same old traditions behind it and the same atmosphere surrounding it that made brave men of its forbears. So although the colors are not exactly the soul of a regiment, they are the concrete embodiment of it, and are even more sacred than the person of a reigning sovereign.
The colours of the infantry and standards of the cavalry are a set of large flags, unique to each regiment, that the ordinary soldier would be able to identify straight away.[citation needed]
The naval and air forces of all three of these countries also have similar colours based on their own ensigns. Rules stipulated by the CanadianDepartment of Defence state that the First, or Senior Colours symbolizes the unit's loyalty tothe Crown; authorization to possess a king's colour may only be granted, and the colour presented, by the monarch or his or her vice-regal representative. The design based on theflag of Canada reflects the custom established for infantry line regiments in the mid-18th century, when the sovereign's colour was based on the national flag, as was the practice in British and French units in Canada.[5]
Given its Commonwealth heritage as a former British colony, theIndian Armed Forces sports colours which are equivalent to those used in the British military.
Only theNavy andAir Force sport President's Service Colours which are their respectivenaval ensign andair force flag which are gold fringed with modifications:
President's Colours (Standard and Guidon for mounted units of the Army and Air Force flying units and Banners for service arms and the light infantry) are awarded to distinguished units of the Armed Forces by thePresident of India, who is the Supreme Commander of theArmed Forces, these are the equivalents to British regimental colours. In theArmy, these colours carry theregimental/battalion insignia and anyrecognized battle honours won by the unit.
Only the President's Bodyguard has had in times a full strand following British practice, consisting of the President's Standard and a Regimental Standard.
The same format of Sovereign's and Regimental Colours also apply in Malaysia. The King's Colours and Regimental Colours of theMalaysian Armed Forces are the flags given by theKing of Malaysia in his responsibilities as Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and by the 8 other state monarchs. The colours are given to units recognized as Royal units and to flags of large formations (the King's Colour) and to units receiving their new regimental colours (the Unit Regimental Colour).
The King's Colour is yellow with the national arms surrounded by paddy on the centre. Thus Malaysia is one of only two Commonwealth countries, the other beingBrunei, that does not use its national flag as a senior Colour (the flag is the senior colour of the entire Armed Forces establishment). The sides are emblazoned with the battle honours of the unit. On the canton the service emblem of either service of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) can be seen. The Regimental Colour, however, differs by service arm or branch (the latter case being used in the Army) and unit. Both flags have gold fringes surrounding them. These colours are only present in formal parades.
During theIndependence Day Parade and on Armed Forces Day on 21 September, as the armed services on parade do not wear their dress uniforms, only the 1st Battalion,Royal Malay Regiment, which wears dress uniforms, is present with its King's and Regimental Colours. For the rest of the services on public parade, the following order then applies:
In addition theRoyal Johor Military Force was granted its privilege in the 1910s, as the sole state defense force in the country, to have its own Regimental Colour.
Victoria Institution is the only private educational institution granted Colours for its role in the Second World War.
Singaporean military colours of theSingapore Armed Forces are divided today into Service State Colours and Unit Regimental Colours. Until 1997 there were also Service Regimental Colours and Unit State Colours. The Service State Colours are similar to theFlag of Singapore but differ per service, with the service emblem in the white field. But Regimental Colours are different, and they differ per unit or service arm (save for the flags of the Air Force and Navy that show their respective service colours instead and some SAF service-wide commands like the Military Police). Their common design is that of the regimental or command arms at the centre of the colour, which is in the colour of the unit uniform facings or service branch which it belongs. Both are gold fringed and are brought out on major occasions only. The former Unit State Colours carried the unit emblem or badge in the white field of the national flag.
When Sri Lanka declared itself a republic in 1972 the units that had a King's colour, first using the Union Jack and then thecurrent national flag, retired them. These were replaced by the newPresident's Colour, which was first awarded in 1972.The following colours have been awarded:
Regimental colours follow the British model, and the two light infantry regiments (Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment andSri Lanka Rifle Corps) do not carry colours at all. Unlike the British Royal Artillery, theSri Lanka Artillery carries a set of President's and Regimental Colours, the same case for the Sri Lanka Engineers.
Unlike the Air Force which uses a single colour design similar to the RAF, the Navy sports unit and command colours in the same fashion as the Army.
The design of the President's Colours of Navy and Air Force units are the gold fringed versions of their service flags. The Army President's Colour is a gold fringed national flag with thenational arms in between the teal and orange stripes on the left.
In regiments ofinfantry of theBritish Army and the armies of otherCommonwealth countries, eachbattalion carries two colours, which collectively are called a stand. These are large flags, usually 36 by 45 inches (91 cm × 114 cm), and mounted on ahalf pike which is 8 feet7+1⁄2 inches (2.629 m) long; the king's or queen's colour (state or president's colour if the country is a republic) is usually a version of the country'snational flag, often trimmed withgold fabric, and with the regiment'sinsignia placed in the centre. The regimental colour is a flag of a single colour, usually the colour of the uniform facings (collar/lapels and cuffs) of the regiment, again often trimmed and with the insignia in the centre. Most regiments that are designated as 'royal' regiments (that is either have the word 'Royal' or the sponsorship of a royal personage in their name) have aroyal blue regimental colour, most royal regiments have a Union Flag canton in that background. Irish regiments, today theRoyal Irish Regiment, have a dark green regimental colour.
The colours of the five regiments ofFoot Guards have the pattern of theline infantry reversed, with the king's colour of each of the 1st Battalions being crimson with the regimental insignia, a royal crown and honours and the regimental colour a variation of the Union Flag with thebattle honours embroidered. The king's colours of any additional battalions from these regiments (currently held by the five incremental companies from four out of the six regiments) feature a Union Flag canton at the top corner.
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By tradition,rifle regiments do not carry colours; this goes back to their formation, when they were used as skirmishers and sharpshooters. While individual units may have had banners or pennants to distinguish themselves from other units, regiments as a whole never needed a full stand of colours. Today, the two rifle regiments in the British Army,The Rifles and theRoyal Gurkha Rifles carry their battle honours on their drums, while theRoyal Green Jackets also had theirs inscribed on theircap badge; this tradition is maintained by The Rifles, who wear theMaltese cross badge of the Royal Green Jackets, inscribed with the regimental honours, as the belt badge. In place of a regimental colour, the Gurkhas carry theQueen's Truncheon awarded in 1863.
TheSri Lanka Sinha Regiment was the first modern non-British regiment to receive truncheons when they were awarded to that unit in 2017. In 2019, a similar truncheon, theRana Parashuwa, was granted to theSri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment, the first of their kind granted to a Commonwealth special forces formation. Formerly, the Malaysian ArmyRoyal Ranger Regiment was granted a regimental truncheon in 1966.
InIndia, colours or banners are given instead of truncheons, following Russian practice and in line with the ancient Indian traditions of old, to all the rifle and scout infantry regiments by thepresident of India.
In theBritish Army's cavalry units, the king's cavalry standard and the regimental standard (for the heavy cavalry) and the king's cavalry guidons and regimental guidons (for the light cavalry) are the equivalents to the line infantry colours. The king's standard is crimson with the royal coat of arms and cypher, plus the regimental honours, while the regimental (squadron/union) standard has an adaptable background colour per unit (the colour is sometimes scarlet) and includes sometimes the Union Badge below the crown and the royal cypher at the sides of the badge, with the unit honours below. The light cavalry guidon is swallow-tailed and includes the regimental coat of arms and honours. Before the 1950s, however,Timpani in the drumhorses (and later snare, bass and tenor drums in the dismounted bands) carried the regimental honours and insignia of the light cavalry regiments. Fordragoon guards regiments, the sequence is mixed, since these regiments have a king's cavalry standard and regimental guidons.
The Household Cavalry has the following unique colours:
Woven onto the colours arebattle honours; the king's colour has honours from the First World War and Second World War, while the regimental colour has honours from other campaigns. The regimental colour can also have other distinctions, including antecedent emblems and unique honours; one significant example is theSphinx emblem carried by regiments who took part in theEgypt campaign of 1801. The Foot Guards carry battle honours from all engagements in both of their colours. If the regiment has more than a single battalion, then there are identifying marks on the colours to show which battalion they belong to.
There are various other embellishments that can be added to the colours on various occasions:
In the United Kingdom,41 Commando,Royal Marines, and the 1st Battalion,Gloucestershire Regiment, were also awarded the PUC and permitted to display the streamer of their regimental colours.
Because of their importance to the regiment, prior to a new stand of colours being presented, they areconsecrated.
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RAF colours are made of sky blue silk and measure approximately 36 by 36 inches (91 cm × 91 cm). The following colours have been awarded:
The King's colour for theRoyal Air Force in the United Kingdom is a variation of theRAF Ensign with its dimensions altered. TheRAF Roundel is moved to the lower fly, with its place in the centre again taken by the royal cypher surmounted by the crown. Other colours feature the unit's badge in the centre with the royal cypher and crown in the first quarter.
The RAF's squadron standards are its counterpart to the regimental colours. They are in air force blue surrounded by a gold fringe, with the squadron insignia and honours.
All RAF colours are surrounded by sky blue fringe.
TheRoyal Hospital, Chelsea had neither colours nor other distinctive device during its entire history, until 2002 when QueenElizabeth II presented the hospital with theSovereign's Mace. This is now paraded by a party ofin-pensioners at all of the Royal Hospital's ceremonial events.
TheCorps 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. Above is a scroll with the single battle honour Gibraltar surmounted bySt Edward's Crown. Below is the globe (which represents the many battle honours the Royal Marines had earned) surrounded by a laurel wreath (which represents the Battle of Belle Isle) and below this is a scroll with the corps' motto. Each of the four commandos (the battalion-sized formations that make up the bulk of the corps) has a King's colour, with the only difference being the colour of the cords and tassels. Each commando also has its own regimental colour. The regimental colour is a dark blue flag (because the corps is classed as a 'royal regiment') with a small Union Flag at the pike head. The colour carries similar central embellishments as the king's colour, with the exception that the cypher of George IV replaces that of the reigning monarch and the unit numeral is below. The royal cypher is at the other corners. The regimental colours also have the coloured cords and tassels, which are gold combined with the following colours:
The former41 Commando was awarded theDistinguished Unit Citation for its service in theKorean War, and was thus permitted to carry the streamer on its Regimental Colour.[10]
The colours of His Majesty's ships in theRoyal Navy consist of:
In addition, each principal command in the Royal Navy also has its own king's colour which is a variation of theWhite Ensign, with its dimensions altered to mirror those of the colours of infantry regiments. In the centre is theroyal cypher of the reigning monarch within theGarter, surmounted by thecrown.
Unlike the colours of regiments in the Army, the king's colours of the Royal Navy are identical with no battle honours. The following units hold a king's colour of the Royal Navy:
TheRoyal Fleet Auxiliary also holds a king's colour, unique for a civilian organisation. It is a variation of the RFA'sBlue Ensign, with the dimensions altered to mirror the Royal Navy King's Colour. It has the same royal cypher in the centre.
Infantry units have adrapeau /vaandel, a square vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red based on the national flag within a 15 mm wide gold fringe, the whole being 90 cm square. The names of battle honours for which the unit was cited are embroidered in gold inFrench on the obverse and inDutch on the reverse, in straight lines.
Danish Navy, Army and Air Force units carry a unit colour (Danish:regimentsfane) and for the Life Guards a battalion colour (bataljonsfane), which measures 105 × 140 cm, former horse units a slightly smaller guidon.[11] The flag is a variation of theDannebrog, with a curvilinear white Dannebrog cross, called the Mantova cross, set with its centre about one-half the width of the hoist from the hoist edge. The royal cypher is embroidered in gold over the centre of the cross, the unit badge in gold in the upper hoist, and the unit number, name or both in gold in the lower hoist. Some regiments have additional marks in the upper fly. TheJyske Dragonregiment, for instance, hasPrince Henrik's cipher in the upper fly. Thefinial is an ornate gold openwork spearhead with the royal cypher in the centre. Attached below the spearhead can be one or morecampaign streamers (fanebånd). The colour is decorated with a gold cord with two tassels and bordered with a thin strip of gold cord. The sleeve holding the colour to the pike is attached with ornamental nails, the first three of which represent the sovereign, the Fatherland, and the Union.
Units of theFinnish Defence Forces have a single colour. The colours are either active or traditional. An active colour belongs to a brigade or an equivalent unit in the FDF. A traditional Colour belongs to a battalion or a regiment that has formerly been separate, but is now part of a brigade. The difference between an active and traditional Colour is the way of presenting them. The active colour always has a guard of two officers, while a traditional Colour is borne without one. Themilitary oath is always given in the presence of the active colour of the unit.
Finnish military heraldry is a mixture of Scandinavian and Russian tradition. The colours are usually modeled after Swedish regimental flags of the 17th century, but some units carry flags reminiscent of Russian or German traditions. Colours often bear the emblem of the province where a unit is located. They also commonly feature the traditional colours of a service branch or a shared design element, for example the black flags of mostengineer units. There were no battle honours awarded during theContinuation War (co-belligerent withNazi Germany), but some units have battle honours from theFinnish Civil War and theWinter War.
Units and institutions of the Finnish Defence Forces which have not received a colour of their own use the unadorned swallow-tailedFlag of Finland as their State Colour, and the oath of service for NCOs and volunteer enlisted personnel assigned to these units are given in its presence.
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In January 1188, in a meeting betweenHenry II of England andPhilip II of France, it was agreed that both would go on a crusade, and that Henry II would use a white cross and Philip II would use a red cross.[12] Later on,[year needed] this usage was inverted, and the English took to using a red cross on white, and the French a white cross on red.[citation needed]
As the use of regimental colours spread in Europe, the habit developed of using a symmetric white cross as the basis of the design of the French regimental flags, and by the 18th century almost every regiment had a white cross. The regiments were distinguished by the colours of thecantons.
After theFrench Revolution and the appearance of the newTricolore, crosses disappear in 1794 and various arrangements of the tricolour come into use.Napoleon standardizes first in 1804 to a white field chape-chausse of red and blue, and in 1812 to the modern French flag. Atop of the staff of colours of theNapoleonic army theImperial Eagle (modelled after the Ancient RomanAquila) was placed, which actually rose to be more important symbol of the regiment than colours itself.
The modernFrench 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 theFirst Republic. Accordingly, battles fought and won by theRoyal Army and Navy before theFrench Revolution (such asPatay,Fontenoy,Chesapeake,Porto Praya and so on) do not appear as battle honours on regimental colours. 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.
As an example, the1st Infantry Regiment, founded in 1479 during the reign ofLouis XI, has fought a number of battles since the 15th century, but its battle honours are only recorded from 1792 onwards:
The following official documents relate to the colours of theLand Army (armée de Terre) :
Regimental colours are 90 cm × 90 cmTricolore silk square flags – standards are smaller: 64 cm × 64 cm – surrounded by a golden fringe. Both are set on a stave (2.11 m long and 32 mm diameter – staves for standards are slightly shorter) ended by a 38 cm pike-shapedfinial with a cartouche bearing the initials "RF" forRépublique française on one side, and the name or number of the unit on the other side.
The cravate hanging from the pike is made of two tricolour silk ribbons, 90 cm long and 24 cm wide, ended by an 8 cm gold fringe on which the unit number or monogram is embroidered in gold, encircled by an oak and laurel wreath. Frenchdecorations andfourragères[note 1] awarded to the unit are pinned or tied to the cravate; foreign awards and decorations are borne on a red velvet cushion.
All writings on the colour are embroidered in gold, as well the unit number (or monogram) encircled in antique oak and laurel wreath in each corner of the colour.
Obverse of a colour:
Reverse of a colour:
By tradition, all the Army's rifle battalions (thebataillons de chasseurs à pied together with thechasseurs alpins) share a single collective colour. Individual battalions have pennants (fanions) and the Colour of the Rifles (Drapeau des chasseurs) is held each year in turn by a different rifle battalion. As a result, the single gold-fringed colour displays all the battle honours earned by every rifle infantry battalion.
The colours ofAir 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. Colours are generally not bestowed to Air Force units smaller thanescadres (wings), land combat regiments, air force bases, instruction centres or air force training colleges.
The units of theNational Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale) have colours which are very similar to those of the Army. Each region (formerlylegion), instruction centre, college orRepublican Guard Regiment has its colour or standard, altogether 56 colour and 2 standards. The reverse of colours of the Departmental Gendarmerie units and Gendarmerie instruction centres have the same motto as the Land Army units (Honneur et Patrie), but the colours of the Mobile Gendarmerie have their own particular motto:Valeur et Discipline (Valour and Discipline). Most subordinate or smaller units use 50 cm large × 40 cm high pennants.
The National Gendarmerie also has its own official colour, under the armed guard of the Directorate General, on which five battle honours are registered:
The Colours worn by the ships of theNational Navy (Marine nationale) consist of the National Ensign and the jack:
Currently, only eight individual National Navy units have colours[15] other than the National Ensign or the FNFL jack. Under recommendation 808 EMM/CAB of 5 December 1985, naval units to which colours can be bestowed must be those with manpower equivalent to that of a regiment, which are specialised in combat or services on land (or corps which have inherited their traditions from such units), and naval instruction centres or colleges. The flags are quite similar to those of Land Army units, the difference being the wreaths in corners which encircle anchors instead of the name of unit, except for the Naval Gunners (initialsCM) and the Fleet Engineering Cadets College (initialsEAMF).
As of today, these units are (between brackets is where the colours are currently kept):
Many of today's armed forces of independent countries that once were part of theFrench Empire share customs and traditions closely similar if not identical to those of the French military regarding organisation of military arms,army andnavy rank structures anduniform styles. Indeed, in countries where the decolonisation process had been conducted through peaceful political negotiations (chieflyFrench West Africa andFrench Equatorial Africa), French colonial units were sometimesdirectly inherited by the former colonies where they had been raised to form the basis of the new national armies. This legacy not only included colour etiquette (the way colours are respected, taken care of and paraded), but also design, adapted to new national flag designs.
On the contrary, in countries where independence came as the aftermath of bloody wars of liberation, such as inVietnam andAlgeria, due to theCold War context, French military culture was strongly rejected often only to be replaced bycommunistSoviet orChinese style military culture (colours, ranks, uniforms, parade pace, etc.).
As one of the World'sgreat powers together with Great Britain, France did not only exercise its influence by conquest, but also by the prestige of its military. At the height of Europeancolonial 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. This lead many a military to copy both powers' military and naval cultures. As most navies in the World adopted the British naval looks (double-breasted navy blue jacket and peaked cap for officer, blue jean collar for ratings, etc.), numerous land armies adopted French-inspired uniforms during the 1860s and 1870s (bothUnion andConfederate armies during theAmerican Civil War, the Chilean Army of theWar of the Pacific, theImperial Russian Army, etc.) and even sometimes imported types of French units (e.g.Zouave regiments). France's influence on military fashion dimmed for the time being after the unexpected French defeat ending theFranco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. Many armies then changed to adopt Prussian military style (as a perfect example of this trend, Chilean soldiers traded theirkepis forPickelhauben).
As far as regimental colours are concerned, French influence was mainly to be seen in armies of smaller European powers with strong cultural, economical or political ties to France, notably in such countries whose national flag itself was patterned after the French national flag, such as Belgium or Romania.
Units of theBundeswehr have only a single Colour. TheTruppenfahne is a square version of thenational flag with theBundesadler (national shield) overall in the centre. The flag is surrounded by a black, red, and gold lacework border and edged on three sides by gold fringe. Thefinial is a gilt bronze openwork spearhead surrounding a black and silverIron Cross. Below the finial, a streamer is attached with the unit badge at the top and its designation embroidered in gold at the end. These streamers are red for army (Heer) units, blue for the navy (Marine), and white for the air force (Luftwaffe). The streamer is the same length as the hoist of the flag.[16]
The tradition was also observed by theNational People's Army of East Germany, whose unit colours mirrored thenational flag.
Until the Second World War German military units maintained colours of the Prussian pattern regardless of service branch, while the Waffen-SS followed thenational flag pattern.
Traditionally,Army infantry and tank/cavalry regiments have a single colour/standard or war flag (Greek:Πολεμική Σημαία). This is blue, with a white cross and featuresSt George and the Dragon in the centre.[17] The flag has no distinguishing features for individual regiments, although battle honours are sometimes added to the flag; the regiment's identity is inscribed on the flagstaff. The pattern has been in use since the 1830s, with no changes between the periods ofmonarchy orrepublic. TheHellenic Army Academy has also been awarded a war flag, its cadets having participated in theBattle of Crete in 1941. Similar flags exist also for theAir Force, featuring thearchangelMichael. Recently war flags were assigned to the Army NCO Academy and the Police Academy.
Unlike the Army, Police and Air Force, theHellenic Navy uses as both the naval ensign and national colour the flag that later became the modern official nationalFlag of Greece. TheHellenic Coast Guard and theHellenic Fire Service use the Navy pattern.
The flag of theSwiss Guard, the army of theVatican City, consists of four-quarters. The Coat of Arms of the currentpope is in the first quarter, while the arms ofPope Julius II are in the fourth quarter. In the second and third quarters are horizontal stripes of red, yellow and blue, the colours of the unit's uniforms.
The flag also has the coat of arms of the commander within a wreath, on a background of the colour of hiscanton. The design of the flag changes with the election of a new pope and the appointment of a new commander.
The 120 cm × 140 cm Unit colour of the Hungarian Defence Force is the current regulation colour of allHungarian Defence Forces units since 15 March 1991. The flag is made of white fibres-satin. The height of the coat of arms with the crown is 57, and the width is 58 cm along with the crown. The coat of arms is made of silk with gold and silver embroidery. The edges of the flagship are surrounded by 11–11, and 9–9, 10 cm, red and green flames on the longer sides, extending 15 centimetres. The flames of the flames start and end on each side with a red colour, with the flaming tongues separated by a green circle in the four corners of the flag. The flagpole has a 5 mmm national-colour silk ribbon on its 3 free edges that do not fit the rod, with 10–10 centimetres national colour silk ribs on two free tips. The white part of the flagpole outside the party is twisted once on the pole, fixed with 3 equally spaced brass nails - 25-25-25 mm equally spaced. The flagpole is a 21-centimeter long, stylized leaf-shaped sandblasted brass, on both sides with a baroque, bronzeCoat of arms of Hungary, without shield holders. The rod is 238 centimetres long, cylindrical, scarlet-lacquered, bottom-foldable in the lower third. Brass rings at the pole separation lines and a brass cap at the bottom end.[18]
The colour (bandiera di guerra) for army units (other than cavalry) is a square version of thenational tricolour in silk, 99 cm × 99 cm. 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 pike is topped by a 35 cm highfinial consisting of an ornate gilt brass spearhead chased with a five-pointed star and the monogram RI (forRepubblica Italiana), which is in turn mounted atop a gilt brass ball on which is the name and date of establishment of the unit. The pike is adorned with two silver cords 67 cm long, each with a 10 cm long silver tassel and a blue silk cravat 8 cm × 66 cm with an 8 cm silver fringe at each end, to which the unit's decorations are pinned, the ribbons of the decorations overlapping so that the medals hang down the cravat. Italian Army cavalry units carry astendardo (standard) of the same pattern as thebandiera di guerra, but which measures 60 cm × 60 cm.
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Lithuania's military colours under theLithuanian Armed Forces tend to follow a mix of the Russian and British practice, as well as of US tradition, with the national flag being designated as a National Colour, but only flown by guards of honour in ceremonies. Unit colours of the Land Forces follow the Imperial Russian pattern, with the fringe in gold or bi-colour of red/green and bearingVytis (obverse) and unit emblem (reverse) in the centre. The Naval Forces uses a ceremonial form of the naval ensign as an overall branch colour with gold fringe following British precedence.
In theDutch armed forces, the colour (or standard in case of the mounted (i.e. cavalry and field and horse artillery) regiments) is orange (except for the colour of the midshipman corps,[clarification needed] which is red). All are gold fringed.
On the obverse is the royal cypher of the monarch that gave the regiment its (original) colour, with the unit's name underneath (including the year the regiment or corps was established), both in gold; around the four edges is a laurel branch. Battle honours are added in the corners of the obverse and sometimes also on the left and right of the royal cypher; if additional honours are awarded, they are placed on streamers that are attached to the pike until the presentation of a new colour. Battle honours refer to places (e.g.Waterloo orRotterdam), areas (West-Java or Afghanistan) (seas included, for exampleJava-zee), or to a military campaign (Tiendaagse Veldtocht orVeldtocht van 1815); the year or years of engagement are always added, except on the colours of theNetherlands Marine Corps.
On the reverse is the arms of theKingdom of the Netherlands without the mantle. The shield is blue and is strewn with small upright rectangles; the main device is a crowned rampant lion, holding a sword in its upper paw and a bundle of seven arrows in its lower paw. The lion and rectangles are gold, whilst the blade of the sword is silver. Supporting the shield on either side is a gold rampant lion, facing outwards towards the viewer. There is a gold crown above the shield; whilst below it is a blue scroll with the royal mottoJe maintiendrai (French for 'I will maintain') in gold. The shield and lions are surrounded by a wreath of green palm and oak leaves tied together with an orange and blue ribbon, and there is another wavy gold laurel wreath around the four edges.
TheMilitary Order of William or other decorations are attached to the pike when awarded. The pike has afinial of a lion on a plinth holding a sword and a bunch of seven arrows. Traditionally a colour is 87 cm × 87 cm (with a pike 2.50 m long). Guards regiments carry the same colour, with some differing details. The same applies to the colours carried by theRoyal Military Academy and theRoyal Military School. Standards measure 50 cm × 50 cm with a pike 2 m long.[19]
OnlyRegiment van Heutsz has a full British-styled stand as a variant of the national flag used by the regiment in the Korean War is used as the Regimental Colour with the orange colour as the King's Colour (or Queen's).
Norwegian infantry units have a stand of colours – the first (King's Colour) is thenational flag, while the second (Regimental Colour) is unique to each unit:
The standard military colours of thePolish Armed Forces are in red and white with gold fringe, with the design tracing back to the Polish Second Republic, a standardized form based on earlier colours. The motto of the Armed Forces, "God, Honour, Fatherland" (Polish:Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna) are at the reverse while thePolish military eagle (which differs per service) surrounded by a gold wreath is at the centre of the obverse. The unit's name is inscribed on the obverse. The eagle is also featured as the finial in all colours.
Each of the commands, units, forces and establishments of thePortuguese Armed Forces has anational colour, which is considered the parade version of theFlag of Portugal. TheNational Republican Guard, thePublic Security Police and some fire departments also have national colours.
The traditional distinction between colours (Portuguese:bandeiras, literally "flags") - carried by foot units - and standards (estandartes) - carried by mounted units - was abolished in the 1960s, with all of them being uniformly reclassified as "national standards" (estandartes nacionais). At the same time, another type of standard was introduced, this being the heraldic standard, each of which reflects the particular heraldic symbology of the corresponding unit.
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 theNational coat of arms in the centre, surrounded by two golden olive branches tied by a white scroll containing the mottoEsta é a Ditosa Pátria Minha Amada (This is my Beloved Blissful Fatherland). Despite the existence of this official model, the various branches of the Armed Forces adopted different models of colours over the years, with various designs and dimensions.
In March 2020, a uniform model of national colours was adopted for all the branches. This is based in the 1911 official model, but measuring 120 cm both in the hoist and in the fly. The name of the unit, its heraldic symbol and theirbattle honours are embroidered in a gravat attached to the base of the finial, the colour of the gravate varying accordingly with the branch of service. Naval units were allowed to keep the traditionalOrder of Christ Cross embroidered in the canton of the cloth of their national colours. The several commands, units, forces and establishments of the Armed Forces will have to replace their old national colours by the new model within 10 years.
The national colours of the National Republican Guard and of the Public Security Police follow the 1911 model and continue to keep the traditional practice of having the names of the units inside white scrolls which are inserted on the field of the flag itself.
According to theRomanian General Staff, "The military colours (drapel de luptă) are the symbol of military honour, bravery and glory. They evoke the past struggle of the Romanian people for national liberty and the traditions of unity, reminding each soldier of his sacred duty to serve the Fatherland with trust, and to defend at all costs the unity, sovereignty and independence of Romania".
The military colours are granted to military units by presidential decree, on the advice of theMinister of National Defence, theMinister of Internal Affairs or the director of theRomanian Intelligence Service. According to the Ministry of National Defence, the complete description of this military insignia is as follows:
The military colours of Romania are made of double silk cloth and have dimensions of 100 × 66 cm (2:3 ratio). The canvas has the colours of the Romanian flag and its obverse is identical with the reverse. The national coat of arms, measuring 29 × 21.5 cm, is applied in the middle of the yellow stripe, 18 cm above its base. In each corner, 5 cm from the edge of the canvas, is sewed a wreath of oak leaves, which surrounds the weapon signs, all of golden thread:
The three sides of the flag not attached to the pole are decorated with fringes of golden thread (5–7 cm long) and tassels of the same material (10–12 cm long) hang from the corners of the fly. The flag is attached to the pole by an antioxidant metal rod 70 cm long.
The pole, of brown wood, is 240 cm high and 3.5 cm in diameter. A brass cylinder is at the base, 4 cm long and closed on the bottom. The rod is attached to the pole by a brass ring, gilt on its lower part, and a 6 cm high cylindrical protective tube of the same material and gilt on its upper part. The ring (3.2 cm high) is inscribed with the name of the unit. Another brass cylinder is placed on the tip of the pole, 6 cm long and of brass. The eagle (similar to theRoman aquila), of gilt copper, sheet, 15 cm high and 11.5 cm wide, is placed over this. Looking rightward, the eagle's wings are pointed downward and it holds thethunderbolts ofJupiter in its talons. It is placed on a parallelepipedal support of the same metal (10 × 3.5 × 2 cm), which has a 3.4 cm high ornament on its lower part. The support is screwed onto the brass cylinder and has inscribed into the front the mottoOnoare și Patrie ("Honour and Fatherland"). The name of the respective unit is engraved into the reverse.
Other features of the military colours are a tie for attaching decorations, six sashes for the armed escort of the colour guard and the colour ensign and a protective cover of impermeable fabric.
The military colours of navy vessels are identical to their ensign. 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. They are flown in their vessels in accordance with relevant regulations.
Until Peter the Great assumed the office and throne of Tsar in 1685, various flag designs were used by land and naval units of Imperial Russia.
In the 18th century theImperial Russian Army started to have colours of its own. Starting from the 1730s, Cross style flags in the colours of the various military units appeared in various units: large flags for the infantry and the other arms and small flags for the cavalry and horse artillery. These flags mirrored the Commonwealth military colours of today, with one colour set as the state colour and the rest as the regimental and battalion or squadron colours. 1797 regulations introduced new designs for the infantry—for regular units, the state colour being white with the state emblem and the company, battalion and/or regimental colours using the assigned colours of their units, for the Imperial Guard a different emblem was used, and the design was identical. New colours were issued in 1800, but only Guards units used them.
Regulations set in 1813 unified infantry unit colours into one. Guards units used the orange and black of theOrder of Saint George with the facing colours and unit emblem at the centre.
All these years, the cavalry colours were different.
Naval flags, until 1861–62 (with a brief break in the late 1790s) whilst using the St. Andrew's cross in blue on white, mirrored the British Royal Navy.
From 1942 onwards, each regiment in thearmed forces of the Soviet Union (especially the Army and Air Force) had its own colour, which was produced to a standard design:
The colour was gold fringed.
The former designs had a red star on the reverse with the name of the Central Executive Committee and later, theSupreme Soviet of the USSR surrounding it, and the obverse had the unit inscription below thecoat of arms of the Soviet Union, which had the Soviet Union state motto ("Workers of the world, unite!") and thered star with thehammer and sickle inside (both were on theflag of the Soviet Union) above it (the latter was near the hoist). Naval flags until 1935 sported different designs. (Distinguished units would be given a second colour, theRevolutionary Red Banner of Honour, by the all-Union CEC (before 1924 by theAll-Russian Central Executive Committee).)
The Soviet Navy colours had the 1935 official design with them (it was later revised in 1950), with additions for units honoured with theOrder of the Red Banner, but in 1964 the Supreme Commander's and Defence Minister's own naval colour and the colours of the Navy Commander-in-Chief (formerly the Minister for the Navy) and Chief of Naval Operations were issued with different designs used, with the addition of the Armed Forces General Staff's own naval colour. The first colour was red with the USSR state arms, the next two had the arms with blue stripes indicating office rank, and the final two were adaptations of the naval ensign (with a different ensign with the rank) plus the stripes. The 1935 design (that of a white field with a blue lower stripe and the red star plus the hammer and sickle above the blue stripe) replaced a much earlier, post-revolutionary naval colours design adopted in 1925. In 1944 a different flag was issued to the Navy for its land based units – the same design used by the Army with a different obverse having the unit name below the naval ensign.
Early flags even had the RKKA and RKKF insignia (the Army General Staff, represented by crossed blue rifles and later became the General Staff's naval colour until 1964, the Naval General Staff and the Army Naval Operations Staff, later the flag of the People's Comissariat for the Navy on its 1938 creation and was issued with two new colours for the Navy Commissar and Deputy Commissar) beside the hammer and sickle, even the flags of the People's Commissar for National Defence and that of the Navy General Staff and the various flags of naval officers which had the ensign on a canton surrounded by a red field, derived from the Navy Commissar's. The cruiserAurora since 1968 has had a different version of the ensign, flanked by theOrder of the Red Banner and of theOrder of the October Revolution on the top sides of the star, as theAurora was the only naval recipient of the latter order in 1967 while in 1918, the Order of the Red Banner was conferred to the ship.
The colours of those regiments that were classed as "Guards" was slightly different as per 1942 regulations. These had the portrait ofLenin, theZa nashu motto and the abbreviation "USSR" (СССР,SSSR) on the obverse and the small star with hammer and sickle in its centre, unit's name and a motto on the reverse of the colour. The mottoes were different for every regiment (for example, those regiments made Guards in theGreat Patriotic War bore the motto "Death to the German invaders",Смерть Немецким захватчикам,Smyert' Nyemyetskim zahvatchikam). In some Guards Armies and Corps, different designs on the obverse and reverse were used. Even the Lenin portrait was different in these colours. All of them were gold fringed.
The Navy's Guards units still had the 1935 design, with the addition of the Guards ribbon below, except for units which were honoured with the Order of the Red Banner and became Guard units later. The difference is in the red five-pointed star, in which Red Banner Guard unit flags had applied the Guards ribbon below aside from the Order of the Red Banner on the star for units that had the order bestowed on their colours earlier. Units which used the 1944 regimental colour design but adapted for the navy's guards units[20] included air and marine units which still had the obverse of Army and Air Force guards units standards.
Since the birth of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the old Soviet unit colours were retained. Starting in 1998, the traditional Imperial Russian Armed Forces flag designs were reinstated; however, the new designs began to appear in the early years of the 21st century in the Army and Air Force. But the Russian Navy's old naval colour (St. Andrew's cross in blue on a white field) began to be used again in 1992. It has several variations, and the old jack colour of the Soviet Navy (pre-1935) soon became its jack colour, with the red star with the hammer and sickle removed. The unit colours (especially those of the Navy honour guards) have the same design with the unit insignia at the centre of it while Guards units and bemerited and decorated units apply a different version of the colour.
The new Army and Air Force unit colours are square shaped, have a St. Andrew's cross in the colours of theRibbon of Saint George, and with the unit insignia in the middle of the obverse and the national arms at the reverse, with the service branch emblem on the corners. These colours are the basis for similar ones used today in the various Russian uniformed services.
The design of the colours of theSwedish Armed Forces of today dates back to several separate regulations from early 19th century up to the first united regulations of the three fighting services in 1972. The majority of the army colours are dated back to the summarized regulations of 1950. The colours of theSwedish Amphibious Corps (formerSwedish Coastal Artillery) were decided in model 1944. The colours of theSwedish Air Force were modelled in 1938. Most older colours are embroidered by hand while younger ones can be both machine and handmade.[21] When a military unit, as regards traditions, is amalgamated with another, both colours will be carried together. In principle this will go on as long as both colours are usable. When one of the two (or more) no longer can be repaired, the unit will be granted a new colour. This new colour will reflect the traditions of both units without altering the prescribed model.[21]
Exceptions from this rule are:[21]
A colour is normally granted to the following by the King, by the Prime Minister or the Commander of the Armed Forces:[21]
TheFlag of Turkey is used by theTurkish Armed Forces as a National Colour, and thus has distinguishing features:
It is presented and uncased with a ceremony and moves under the command of the Colour Guard. This unit consists of 4 personnel: the ensign holding the flag, two armed colour guards and the Colour Officer. There are selection criteria for the colour guard. The ensign, flag guard and colour officer must be distinguished among their peers with their education and discipline. The colour officer must be ranking as a subaltern officer.
The General Directorate of Security of the Ministry of the Interior has two Colours, only in the offices of the General Director of Security and the Superintendent of the Police Academy. It has defined the colours as the symbols of honor of the Police in its own regulations. These have a white tassel, cords and fringe unlike the colours used in the Turkish Armed Forces.
All colours salute only the President and foreign Heads of State. As long as the colour is uncased and visible especially in military events, it is saluted by everyone standing and with a frontal salute.
TheOttoman army often used verses from theQuran andShahada (There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of God) on their colours, which were usually in scarlet. This tradition continued during theFirst World War. When Ottoman Turkey joined the war on the side of the Central Powers in 1914, it declared a jihad against the Entente States. The modern Ottoman Turkish army used the Ottoman state coat of arms on one side of their standard regimental flags/standards and the Shahada on the other side in gold lettering. After the empire was abolished in 1922, this practice continued for a while in modern Turkey.[22]
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At the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, quadrangular flags with wedge panels on the free end appeared. The most used colors were red, followed by white, blue, and occasionally yellow. The most widely used flag images werecrosses, holy and princely symbols andancestral tridents-bidents. The flag of theGalicia-Volynia principality was blue with agolden lion.
In 1410,Ruthenian troops took part in theBattle of Grunwald on the side of theKingdom of Poland and theGrand Duchy of Lithuania against their old ally from the time of the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia, theTeutonic Order. The Polish chroniclerJan Dlugosz left a description of the banners of the troops from theruthenian lands who appeared to fight the crusaders.
TheZaporozhian Army received their first flags from foreign monarchs from the 16th century: during the Moldavian campaigns of theAustro-Turkish war and the campaign of theHoly League.[23]
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 theKhmelnytskyj uprising — atYellow Waters,Korsun, andPyliavtsi.
According to the system, there were regimental,sotnia andkish banners. Among the flags of the day, rectangular and trapezoidal panels prevailed. The insignia of numerous units had a triangular shape of various shades of red. Instead of a single state flag, the highest heraldic symbol of theHetmanate was the image of theArchangel Michael on a red background. Most of the flags that have survived to our time contain an equilateralCossack cross andeight-pointed stars, sometimes combined with images of thecrescent moon, a symbol of the Christian-Muslim civilizational confrontation, the latter, from 1572 (in honor ofLepanto), had a pan-European distribution as a symbol of victory in the confrontation with the Islamic threat.[24] From the 18th century, primarily in thePoltava (1717) andLubny (1758) regiments, two-color flags of yellow and blue became widespread.
In general, until the second half of the 18th century. there are relatively fragmentary data available, more detailed information from the time of the unification of flags during the time ofKyril Razumovsky: on March 8/18, 1755, he issued a form for the manufacture of flags according to a single model according to the project of ColonelIvan Kulyabka ofLubny — one side was to contain theCoat of Arms of the Nation, and the other symbol of a military unit. Despite this, the colors and sizes of the flags were arbitrary. Similar standards existed until1768 - the reign ofPeter Rumyantsev, who began to introduce imperial symbols in the Cossack army.
The unification of the banners of theHetmanate did not in any way affect the ensign of theZaporozhian Army, the general banner — the Great Banner — still containedArchangel Michael on a red background, the flags of thekurin and palanquins were mostlycrimson in color. The banner of sea campaigns with the image ofSt. Nicholas was white, besides it, after theOleshkivsk sich period, there was also a titular red banner ofimperial origin. Among thekurin banners, the red ones with the image ofSt. George.
The firstCossack colonizers of theSloboda region formed the Slobid regiments, the banner of which also featuredChristian and religious themes. In total, there were 36 flags in the five regiments, together with thesotnias. The reverse side of thesotnia flags contained the name of the regiment and thesotnia. In contrast to the banners of the rest of theUkrainian Cossacks, theSlobid banners contained the image of theMother of God, the patroness of the Cossacks, as the main motif. With the reorganization into regularhussars, the previous symbols of the units were abolished.
In 1792, the Zaporozhians were moved tothe Kuban, where theTmutarakan Principality was located, forming theBlack Sea Cossack Army.
Following the collapse of theRussian Empire, theTsentralna Rada came to power inUkraine in spring of 1917, it was forced to promptly put together an army to defend the newrepublic against their enemies. Nearly all units of the newly created army were detached from theImperial Russian Army. After the first all-Ukrainian military congress that took place on May 18–21, 1917 inKyiv, the Ukrainian General Military Committee was created. The committee was placed in charge for creation and restructuring of the army.
The next congress, defying a ban placed by theRussian Provisional Government, took place on June 18–23, 1917 in Kyiv. The main requests of the congress were proclamation of the Ukrainian Democratic Republic, full Ukrainization of army and navy, and an immediate peace treaty.
On January 27, 1918, theUkrainian Central Rada approved the project of theUkrainian naval ensign, developed by the Ukrainian Maritime Council (it consisted of two stripes: blue at the top, yellow at the bottom; on the top -the golden sign of Prince Volodymyr - the Trident with a cross at the top), modeled after the British White Ensign.
In 1919, blue-yellow unit colours based on the national flag were adopted for units of both theregular Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic and theUkrainian Galician Army.
With restored independence theArmed Forces of Ukraine adopted a maroon design for its colours, which were gold fringed and contained the official heraldic arms of the armed forces.
Maroon and gold are the colours used in the current military colours used in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with origins in theImperial Russian Army's Cossacks and Ukrainian units. In the obverse theCoat of arms of Ukraine, surrounded by a gold wreath, is at the centre of an Orthodox Cross – both symbols form the emblem of the Armed Forces – with aSt. Andrew's Cross under it with the same emblem in the sides, with the Armed Forces Motto (For Ukraine, for her Freedom) surrounding the emblem and crosses. The unit's name is in the reverse. The colour is gold fringed and is mounted on a pole with a trident finial modeled on the national arms. The same design is used in theNational Guard of Ukraine but in blue and with the 2015 grenade badge. Active duty NG units sport dark blue colours with theOrthodox Cross, grenade and the coat of arms at the corners.
Only the93rd Mechanized Brigade (Ground Forces), theUkrainian Air Assault Forces and theUkrainian Marine Corps have been granted additional colours so far in addition to the officialmaroon unit colours.
TheState Border Guard Service of Ukraine shares a similar colour design to the Armed Forces but with the green colour added to distinguish its units.
The first Yugoslav military colours came about when the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was established in 1918. These were the square versions of theFlag of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia with the state coat of arms and the motto of theYugoslav Royal Army. The unit names were attached to a ribbon at the pole. The colours were inspired by the military colours of Serbia and of the Croat, Slovene and Bosnian military units of resistance against Austria-Hungary during the First World War.
With the birth of the communistPartisans in 1941 in time for the Second World War, their flags showed the samePan-Slavic colours on them (arranged according to nationality) but this time a red star was added in the middle. The naval units had a different ensign used and these flags became the basis for the military colours of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia at the time of its 1943 proclamation.
By the time, these flags had the unit name on the pole pennants and were gold fringed. The Partisan General Staff had their own version of it.
Post-war colours (from 1947, when the nation became a Federal People's Republic) used various flag design with the Yugoslav People's Army motto in Serbo-Croatian (For the freedom and independence of the socialist fatherland) both in Cyrillic and Latin and differed per unit or service arm of the YPA, but was longer and were gold fringed. Just as before, the unit name stayed on the attached ribbon. Both theFlag of Yugoslavia and the flag of theLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia were used as National Colours in parades. Unique colours were issued to the Navy, to YPA reserve units and the Territorial Defence Forces of the republics.
Today all the nations of the former Yugoslavia have separate colour traditions per armed forces, but keep their unique appearance.
The Serbian Armed Forces colour design is very much unique, while gold fringe can be seen in these colours. At the obverse is the national flag design, a tricolour with the national coat of arms in the center of the colour, while the emblem and facing colour of the unit represented (combat formation or support unit) is in the reverse.
Cuba's military colours under theCuban Revolutionary Armed Forces tend to follow a mix of the Soviet and US practice, as theCuban flag is treated as a National Colour.
El Salvador's military colours under theSalvadoran Armed Forces heavily follow US models, as theSalvadoran 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.
Honduran military colours under theHonduran Armed Forces heavily follow US models, as theHonduran flag is treated as a National Colour.
TheMexican Armed Forces use theFlag of Mexico as the National Colour, with the unit inscription below theCoat of arms of Mexico and the official name of the country (Estados Unidos Mexicanos, "United Mexican States") above it. It is the standard design for infantry units and other general services. The same design is used as the National Standard of all Mexican Army cavalry and artillery units as well as artillery units of the Mexican Naval Infantry (under the Navy). Colours and standards are both gold fringed, and the lettering is also in gold.
As a uniformed federal force, the National Guard's units are entitled to a National Colour or Standard.
Mexican Navy units and the Heroic Military Academy are the only ones entitled to regimental colours. Navy schools carry a white gold fringed colour with the heraldic emblem of the school.
Nicaragua's military colours under theNicaraguan Armed Forces are heavily following US practice, as theNicaraguan flag is treated as a National Colour. The unit colours are in red, with a gold outline of Nicaragua with the service, unit or branch insignia in the centre.
In theUnited States military, each branchhas its own flag, an organizational colour, sometimes also called a ceremonial flag. Each of these is 4 ft 4 in (132 cm) × 5 ft 6 in (168 cm), some using2+1⁄2 in (6.4 cm) gold fringe during specific instances. The ceremonial flag is paraded with aNational Color of equal dimensions in acolour guard, with gold fringe as necessary. The National Color is never dipped in salute, but remains vertical at all times, while the organizational colours and anyguidons are dipped as necessary. When the National Color is not cased, all persons salute the Colors. Thefinial is anickel orchrome-plated spearhead, though the Navy uses different finials on occasion.
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Each service attachescampaign/battle streamers, sometimes known as battle honours, for actions in which the service as a whole has taken part. These can either be war service streamers, which are in the colours of the appropriatecampaign medal and have the name of the campaign embroidered; orunit citation streamers, which have the name of the action embroidered and signify that the unit's performance in a specific action has been worthy of special mention. Units are also permitted to wear streamers of overseas awards they may have been presented with. These streamers are in the colours of the appropriate medal ribbon.[26] The streamers are 3 ft (91 cm) ×2+3⁄4 in (7.0 cm). TheArmy, for instance, currently has 178 service streamers,[27] embroidering the name of each battle on each, as does theAir Force. TheMarine Corps andNavy instead embroideraward devices onto streamers to consolidate them, having 62 and 34, respectively.
U.S. Air Force (USAF) groups and above have the same National Color as the Army; the Organizational Color is ultramarine blue, with the group's coat of arms beneath the USAFcrest, which is an eagle on a cloud background. The fringe is in gold. Wing and force colours have their heraldic emblem used instead of the eagle.
This is the same design for Air Force commands and educational institutions but with the eagle replaced by the emblem of the formation.
In the Army, most regiments, battalions of regiments, and separate battalions also have a stand of colours. The first is the National Color, which is a 36 in × 48 in (91 cm × 122 cm) version of thenational flag trimmed with a2+1⁄2 in-wide (6.4 cm) gold fringe, and is the equivalent of the King's Colour in the British Army. The second is the Organizational Color, which is the equivalent of the regimental colour; this is the same dimensions as the National Color, but is of a single colour representing the branch of the service that the unit is from; each branch also has its own fringe colour, which the Organizational Color is trimmed with. In the centre of the colour, for regiments is theeagle from theGreat Seal of the United States, but with the regimental coat of arms in the shield. The eagle has in its beak a scroll bearing the regimental motto, with the crest of the regiment's coat of arms above it and the regiment's name below. Attached to the Organizational Color are the campaign and unit citation streamers awarded to the individual unit – these are equivalent to the battle honours embroidered directly onto the colours of British and Commonwealth units. The Organizational Color was carried in lieu of a National Color until shortly before theAmerican Civil War, when the Stars and Stripes became the National Color.[28] Civil War era units sometimes carried alternative Organizational Colors based on their home state flags or of other designs.
Brigade, division and corps colours, also gold fringed, are in the facing colour of the service branch, for brigades the colour is of a bicolour design. These colours have the command heraldic arms at the centre.
In the Marine Corps, each battalion-sized unit or larger maintains a set of colours.[29][30] The organizational colour is identical to the Marine Corps battle colour, except that the scroll has the unit's name instead of "United States Marine Corps". It also bears the streamers authorized to the unit, or scarlet and gold tassels if none are authorized.
Fringe is never used on the national colors when carried by Marine Corps unit.[31] Instead, a red, white, and blue tassel can be used to decorate.
Prior to Executive Order 10812 of 24 April 1959, the United States Navy used the U.S. Naval Infantry Battalion Flag as its unofficial colours.[32] While the Navy uses a number ofmaritime flags, such as theEnsign andJack of the United States, theFlag of the United States Navy is normally seen only at ceremonies and parades. The display of streamers and fringe is consistent with that of the Marine Corps.
WhenNaval Construction Battalions (Seabees) were first formed in 1942 the Naval Infantry Battalion Flag was mandated by Naval Regulation as the colours of the Naval Construction Force.[32] Each battalion-sized unit or larger maintains a set of colours. The organizational colours of each unit is identical, excepting that each will have the unit's name and number in white on the flag.[32] The display of streamers authorized to the unit is consistent with that of the Marine Corps.
Organizational colours of the US Navy's other shore establishment commands and units and all command formations are in navy blue with the arms of the unit or command, with appropriate displayed streamers attached if authorized.
Each unit of theArgentine Armed Forces, theArgentine National Gendarmerie, theArgentine Federal Police and theArgentine Naval Prefecture bears the national colours on flags, called the National War Flags, which are thenational flag with the unit's name embroidered on it in gold lettering. The colours are carried by the unit's most junior officer, escorted by two armed NCOs, except in academies and schools, where it is carried by the top-ranked student of the senior course, and escorted by his or her second- and third-ranked classmates. If a decoration has been awarded to the unit, it is attached to the national colours' cravat. The national colours are never dipped in salute, except to salute another national colours which pass by or are being the subject of a special honour. Besides the national colours, each unit has its unique regimental colours, normally in the arm or service's colour background, with the unit's coat of arms on it. However not all units have such a common background. For example theRegiment of Patricians has theCross of Burgundy as its official regimental colours because of its lineage dating back from 1806. Units which were made part of theArmy of the Andes duringArgentina's independence war also carry theFlag of the Army of the Andes as a 3rd Colour.
Units of theBrazilian Armed Forces carry a stand of two Colours, differing per service.
The standard of theBrazilian Army measures 80 × 120 cm, white with the Armycoat of arms in the centre, trimmed with gold fringe. The name of the service is inscribed in gold letters on a green scroll beneath the shield. Above the shield is a knight's helmet with red and sky blue mantling. The staff is topped by a nickel-plated lance-headfinial, 32 cm high. Below the lance-head, there is a cravat (laço militar) divided lengthwise, sky blue and red, with a gold fringe at the end, tied in a bow and fastened with a cockade of blue with theSouthern Cross in white stars, red, and blue. Ten red streamers with campaign honours inscribed in sky blue letters are also attached below the lance-head. The staff is 212 cm long, not including the lance-head, and 3.5 cm in diameter. It is covered in sky blue velvet with a red spiral strip. The colour belt is 10 cm in width, covered with sky blue velvet with red velvet stripes. TheBrazilian Navy's flag uses dark blue colours; theBrazilian Air Force flag uses ultramarine blue.
Brazilian military units also carry thenational flag as a National Colour. This is in the dimensions 90 × 128 cm. It is mounted on the same size staff and with the same finial as the Army standard, but the cravat is divided lengthwise yellow and green, with a gold fringe at the end, tied in a bow and fastened with a cockade of blue with the Cruzeiro do Sul in white stars, yellow, and green. The staff is covered in green velvet with a yellow spiral strip. The colour belt is 10 cm in width, covered with green velvet with yellow velvet stripes of width and number varying with the rank of the organization's commander.
Unit colours differ per service branch and speciality.
Units of theChilean Army carry one main colour, known as theestandarte de combate (combat standard). This is the same as thenational flag, but with an embroidered star and with the unit designation, honorific title, founding date and place, and, depending on the unit, other historic information and honours embroidered diagonally across the fly in gold. The flag is also trimmed with gold fringe. It is mounted on a staff with a giltcondor finial; below the finial is a cravat in the national colours with decorations attached. In addition to the military colour, particularly distinguished units, and long serving units may carry a second Colour known as abandera coronela (colonel's colour). This is a red field with a large white five-pointed star. In the angles of the star are the names and dates of battle honours surrounded by laurel wreaths, all in gold, while in an arc above the star is the designation of the unit, also in gold. The flag is also surrounded by gold fringe. Since 2017, the 16th Infantry Regiment Talca became the first to sport a blue colouredbandera coronela in honour of its origins as a city guard battalion formed during the War of the Pacific.
TheChilean Air Force, theChilean Navy, theCarabineros de Chile and theChilean Gendarmerie all use theestandarte de combate as their main colour, and do not use thebandera coronela at all. The design is the same as in the Army's.
The main state colours of theMilitary Forces of Colombia and theNational Police of Colombia is theFlag of Colombia with theCoat of arms of Colombia in the centre inside a circle with a red border, used by all the services. These flags also carry medals and decorations attached to the flag. The MFC and the NPC also uses unit battle colours (brigade-level, regiment-level and battalion-level), that differ accordingly per service. All of them are gold fringed. Uniquely for Colombia, the battle colour tradition is mainly US-influenced. In addition, the service colour is used as a secondary color, also gold fringed, to denote service affiliation.
The Navy, given the British influence, uses the national flag as a State Colour for ships and commands, and few naval units have a full strand of colours.
Aside from the three state colours (theFlag of Uruguay, theArtigas flag and theFlag of the Treinta y Tres), the Uruguayan military also has regimental colours that differ per service and unit. The national colours have armed colour guards while the regimental colour has none at all. All are gold fringed.
In theNational Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela, aside from theFlag of Venezuela as the National Colour, there are also Organizational Colours for each of the 6 service branches and the Ministerial Colour of the Ministry of Defence and Unit Colours, which differ per service branch and arm. Every military unit from the Ministry of defence down to all individual units have a stand of colours like in the United Kingdom, but differ from the battalion to the service and the national level. The national flag, until the 1940s, served also as the unit state colour in the same manner as the National Colour of the United States Army and the State/Sovereign's Colour in the Commonwealth of Nations, and was based on the national flag but with the unit inscription replacing the stars in the centre in white lettering. The Venezuelan National Militia is the only service branch that uses a battle colour, similar to the flag of the Cuban July 26 Movement: the colour is red and black with the service name on it in white, and a separate colour is used for the service headquarters at the Montana Barracks in Caracas. Starting from July 2013 onward it was granted permission to use a 4th colour for its battalions: red with the eyes of the late PresidentHugo Chávez and the inscriptionChavez Vive (Chavez Lives On) below, topped with a scarlet star.
Since 2014 the National Armed Forces uses two additional colours (the National Militia its 5th and 6th): that of the Supreme Commander's Colour, which is red bearing the portrait of the late President Chávez surrounded by a wreath and the Armed Forces Motto (Independence and Socialist Fatherland, we will live on and triumph!) below and the inscriptionSupreme 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 wordsFreedom, Sovereignty, Independence (Libertad, Soberania e Independencia) below the title, all in gold.
The colours used on the Unit Colours are as follows:
The standard is the colours-equivalent for the heavy cavalry (e.g., horse guards and dragoon guards). At 27 by 30 in (69 by 76 cm), on an 8 ft 6 in-long (259 cm) pole, it is much smaller than infantry colours, so that it can be carried by a soldier on horseback. The guidon is the equivalent for the light cavalry (e.g., dragoons, light dragoons, hussars and lancers). It is swallow-tailed, 27 by 41 in (69 by 104 cm), with an8 ft 6 in-long pole.
The wordguidon is a corruption of the Frenchguyde homme – 'the guide man'.[note 3] Originally each troop had its own, but this was quickly reduced to a single, regimental one. With the increased dispersion of troops required in the light cavalry role, their operational function had ceased by the 1830s and they were discontinued. The regiment'skettledrums, with the battle honours woven onto the drum banners (with the exception of3rd The King's Own Hussars and its successors, where they are uncovered, with the battle honours engraved onto the kettledrums themselves) became the focal point of the regiment's loyalty. In 1952 King George VI reintroduced the guidons of the light cavalry for ceremonial purposes.
Both the standard and the guidon are usually of crimson trimmed in gold fringe and with the regiment'sinsignia in the centre. The regiment's battle honours are emblazoned on both theobverse andreverse, up to a maximum of 22 on each side.
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 royal cypher is in the upper hoist and the initials of the regiment in the lower hoist. TheGuard Hussar Regiment's standard is unique, as it has two monograms – with KingFrederick VI's monogram in top right corner.[33]
In theFrench Army, mounted units carryétendards (standards). Mounted units include armoured corps and cavalry, artillery, transportation, army aviation, and supplies. Theétendard is a 64 × 64 cm square flag similar to thedrapeaux carried by the units of foot, with the same design: the regimental name at the obverse and the battle honours at the reserve.
In theItalian Army, cavalry units carry astendardo (standard) of the same pattern as thebandiera di guerra, but which measures 60 cm × 60 cm.
The two hussar regiments of theRoyal Netherlands Army carry astandaard (standard), of similar design to the infantry colour, but smaller (50 cm × 50 cm).
Until the 1960s, thePortuguese Military followed the traditions of its foot units having colours (Portuguese:bandeiras, literally "flags"), while mounted units had standards (estandartes), the latter being smaller versions of the colours. Standards were also carried by naval and aviation units. In the 1960s, the traditional separation between colours and standards was abolished, with all being reclassified as "national standards" (estandartes nacionais). At the same time, a new type of standard, the heraldic standard, was introduced. Presently, the military units, commands, forces and establishments have both a national standard and an heraldic standard. While the design of the national standards reflects theNational Flag, the designs of the heraldic standards reflect the individual heraldic symbology of each of the units.
In the Portuguese military parlance, a guidon (guião) is a small square flag of a battalion sized unit. Guidons of a very simple design were introduced in the 19th century, as the tactical field signs of the foot units that didn't carry colours, namely the second battalions of the infantry regiments and the independentcaçadores (light infantry) battalions. In the early 20th century, the tactical role of the guidons was discontinued. The guidons assumed then a ceremonial role, coming to have a more elaborate design which incorporated the symbology of their respective units. Guidelines for the design of guidons accordingly with heraldic rules were introduced in the 1950s, these becoming mandatory and standardized in the 1960s. The present guidon design - similar in all branches of the Military - consists in the quadrature of the coat of arms of the corresponding unit or of its parent unit, framed by a bordure. The colours of the bordure can be used to identify a sub-unit inside its parent unit.
Besides heraldic standards and guidons, the Portuguese military units also use heraldic pennants (flâmulas). These are small swallow-tailed or triangular flags used to identify company sized units.
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.
In theUnited States armed forces, guidons are much more prevalent, with units below battalion size being authorized to use them. In theUS Army, these are swallow tailed flags that are 20 in × 27 in, and are in the colour of the branch of the service the unit is from, with the branch's insignia the most prominent device. Also on the guidon is included the unit's identifying letter, and the number(s) of its parent unit. War service and campaign streamers are not attached to these guidons, but unit citation streamers can be.
In regiments of the (British)Royal Artillery, and artillery regiments of other Commonwealth countries, the guns are afforded the status of colours.[34] This is due to the difficulty of artillery regiments being able to carry flags onto the battlefield, and the fact that the guns themselves were the rallying points for the soldiers manning them. As a consequence, whenever artillery regiments parade, the etiquette that would normally be applied to the colours is applied to the guns. During theBattle of Balaclava gunners abandoned their guns, in effect abandoning their colours, causing disgrace.[citation needed]
Because the guns have the status of colours, gunners of commonwealth countries will attempt to prevent their guns falling intact into enemy hands both for practical reasons (so that the guns can not be turned and used against their own side) and for the honour of the regiment.[35] For example, the last action of gunners of the Royal Artillery during thefall of Singapore was to destroy their guns.[36][37]
TheHonourable Artillery Company, the oldest regiment in the British Army, and not part of theRoyal Artillery,[citation needed] is the only artillery regiment to have both colours and guns, which are treated with equal respect.
In Singapore, however, since its independence the Singapore Army's artillery arm (the Singapore Artillery) uses colours instead of guns; this is also the case for the Malaysian Army, Pakistan Army, Royal Cambodian Army and the Royal Thai Army, whose artillery units use colours and not guns on parade. This has been the same case for the IndianRegiment of Artillery, which presents colours in dismounted parades, and theSri Lanka Artillery, which has a strand of colours similar to the HAC.
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In some countries, the following etiquette is followed:
The BritishRoyal Navy and other navies of theCommonwealth of Nations call the flag-raising ceremony that happens every morning when a ship is in harbourcolours. In British home waters, colours is conducted at 0800 (eight bells in the morning watch) from 15 February to 31 October inclusive, and at 0900 (two bells in the forenoon watch) during the winter.
When sunset is at or before 2100, flags are lowered at sunset at the ceremony ofsunset. When sunset is after 2100, the evening flag lowering ceremony is calledevening colours and carried out at 2100.
TheUnited States Navy performs the same ceremonies, called "Morning Colors" and "Evening Colors", at 0800 and sunset each day. When "Colors" is played aboard Navy and Marine Corps bases, those outdoors must stop to render proper courtesies by saluting if in uniform or, if out of uniform, by standing at attention, until "Carry On" is sounded. Marines and sailors driving on base during this time are expected to stop their vehicles and stand at attention until the ceremony is over.
Many traditionalyacht clubs worldwide also conduct morning and evening colour ceremonies. At 0800 each morning and at sunset during the club's active sailing season the ceremony is performed by the launchmen orharbourmaster.
Capturing an enemy's flag was formerly a major goal in war, and it is still practised today, and so capturing the enemy flag also appears in several games:
The other side of the standard is also embroidered in gold and shows two texts from the Koran written in arabic script. They translate as 'There is no god but God' and 'Mohammed, the Messenger of God'. The standard would originally have been attached to a pole surmounted by a nickel plated crescent moon and brass star. Two gold bullion and crimson silk cords and tassels would also have been attached to the pole. The side of the standard bearing the sultan's toghra has been damaged by over-exposure to light.
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Media related toMilitary colours, standards and guidons at Wikimedia Commons