page_title: Presentation of Colours
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Presentation of Colours / Background
caption_attribution_description: St. Macartin's Cathedral, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland English: Regimental colours of the Fifth Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, exhibited in the north aisle behind glass. The honors, left column: Mons, Marne 1914, Ypres 191415, Cambrai 191718, Hindenburg Line, Withdrawal to Escaut, Dunkirk 1940, Lower Maas. Right column: Le Cateau, Messines 1914, Somme 191618, Amiens, Pursuit to Mons, St Omer La Bassee, Mont Pincon, Roer. Centre column: The Hook 1952, Korea 195152. Motto: vestigia nulla retrorsum.
context_page_description: The Presentation of Colours is a ceremony that marks an anniversary or event in the history of a particular regiment. This involves the presentation of a new version of the regimental colour to a regiment or equivalent formation in the armed forces. This is a traditional ceremony that was pioneered by the British Armed Forces, and is today used in most Commonwealth countries.
context_section_description: In the military, the colours originally acted as a rallying point for troops and as a way to locate the commander. It originated in Ancient Egypt around 5,000 years ago, with the practice also being used in the Roman Empire and the Roman army specifically. It was made more significant in the Middle Ages, when military colours were formalized with the coat of arms of the country. Colour guards at the time were introduced to escort the colour and to make sure that the colour never was damaged. Today, colours are no longer carried into battle, due to the creation of modern weapons, and the advancement of warfare. Colours are now used as part of a regiment's tradition and symbolizes the unit's identity and is used at events of formal character.
  The ceremony in most Commonwealth countries concern the entrustment to the concerned unit of either one or two colours, if for the latter case the colours are a Sovereign's or National/Presidential Colour and the Regimental Colour (for the infantry, air force combat commands and naval establishments, as well as military educational centers) or the Sovereign's/Presidential Standard/Guidon (for cavalry units and training establishments). As a matter of tradition, colours are never issued to the light infantry, artillery, engineers and support branches, although differences exist (like in the armed forces of India, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka (save for light infantry) and Bangladesh).
caption: The regimental colours of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, displaying the battle honours awarded to the regiment.
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