Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom (UK), by regiments of the Household Division, to celebrate the official birthday of the sovereign, though the event is not necessarily held on that day. It is officially known as the Sovereign's Birthday Parade, or the King's Birthday Parade. Similar events are held in other Commonwealth countries. In the UK, it is the biggest event of the ceremonial calendar, and watched by millions on television, on the streets of London, and in the stands at Horse Guards Parade.
Historically, colours were once used on the battlefield as a rallying point. They display the battle honours of a regiment, and are a focal point of Trooping the Colour. The ceremony has marked the sovereign's official birthday since 1748. Each year, one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the Household Division is selected to slowly troop (carry) its colour through the massed ranks of guards, who stand with arms (weapons) presented. During the slow march-past, the colours are lowered before the monarch, and during the quick march-past the colours fly. The monarch will salute the colours in return.
Prior to the start of the ceremony, the monarch processes down The Mall from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade in a royal procession, with a Sovereign's Escort of Household Cavalry (mounted troops or horse guards). During the ceremony proper, after receiving a royal salute, the monarch inspects his troops of the Household Division and the King's Troop. Music is provided by the massed bands of the Foot Guards and the Mounted Band of the Household Cavalry, together with a Corps of Drums, and pipers, totalling approximately 400 musicians. Once obtained, the colour is displayed at the head of the march past the sovereign in slow and quick time, by the Foot Guards, the Household Cavalry, and the King's Troop. (The latter two elements, being mounted, conduct a walk-past and a trot-past.)
Returning to Buckingham Palace, the monarch surveys a further march-past from outside the gates. Following a 41-gun salute by the King's Troop in Green Park, the royal family make an appearance on the palace balcony for a Royal Air Force flypast.
Sovereign's official birthday and history
Sovereign's birthday parade
In the United Kingdom, Trooping the Colour is also known as the 'King's Birthday Parade' ('Queen's Birthday Parade' when the monarch is female). First performed during the reign of Charles II (1660–1685), in 1748, it was decided that the parade of Trooping the Colour should mark the 'official' birthday of the Sovereign. In 1760, after the accession of George III, it became an annual event.
In 1892, the only member of the royal family to attend was Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, due to court mourning for the death of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. Queen Victoria herself only attended Trooping the Colour once, in 1895, when it was held at Windsor Castle. Although some elements of the parade have remained fairly constant, the ceremonial seen today was not fixed until 1889.
Sovereign's 'official birthday'
Edward VII kept Trooping the Colour in May or June, because of the vagaries of British weather (his actual birthday being in November). It coincides with publication of the Birthday Honours List, and usually takes place at Horse Guards Parade by St James's Park, London. It is followed by a 41-gun salute at noon in Green Park, and a flypast over Buckingham Palace, watched by the royal family from the Palace balcony.
Since 1959, it has typically been held on a Saturday in June. From 1979 to 2017 it was always held on the Saturday from 11 to 17 June; however, in 2018 it was held on 9 June and in 2019 on 8 June. During 2020 and 2021, a modified ceremony took place at Windsor Castle, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, Trooping the Colour was held on a Thursday, the date of 2 June coinciding with the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation on 2 June 1953.
In 2023, Charles III's first birthday parade as monarch took place on 17 June.
Broadcast
Trooping the Colour was first broadcast by BBC Radio in 1927, with a commentary by Major J. B. S. Bourne-May, a retired officer of the Coldstream Guards. It was first shown on BBC Television in 1937.
The parade is witnessed by a global TV audience of many millions. In 1961, in return for the BBC covering the Moscow Victory Day Parade, Trooping the Colour was broadcast in the Soviet Union with the Russian commentary being given in London by Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut.
Over the years, commentary for the live broadcast in the UK by BBC1 has been provided by Richard Dimbleby (until 1965), Tom Fleming (1966-1988), David Dimbleby (1989 and 1991), Eric Robson (1990 and 1998-2000), Julian Tutt (1992-1997), Edward Stourton (2001-2002), Huw Edwards (2003-2023), and recently by Clare Balding (from 2024), together with expert guests and interviews with some of the personnel involved. The BBC's live broadcast has become accessible to an international audience via live streaming on BritBox in both the United States and Canada. Beginning in 2019, The BBC also streams the parade live on YouTube.
For the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, additional live videos commentary of the parade for international viewers were provided by Sky News UK and The Daily Telegraph newspaper's YouTube channels.
Sovereign's participation
Queen Elizabeth II attended Trooping the Colour in every year of her reign, except in 1955 when the event was cancelled due to a national rail strike. Having ridden her mare Burmese between 1969 and 1986, the Queen rode in a carriage from 1987. On 13 June 1981, she and her horse were startled by an unemployed youth, Marcus Sarjeant, who fired six blank rounds from a starting revolver.
Her 80th birthday in 2006 was marked by a large flypast of forty aircraft, led by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and culminating with the Red Arrows. It was followed by the first feu de joie ('fire of joy') fired in her presence during her reign, a second being fired at her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. In 2008, a flypast of fifty-five aircraft commemorated the RAF's 90th anniversary.
In 2023, at the first Trooping the Colour of Charles III as king, he revived the tradition of the sovereign riding on horseback and in uniform. The flypast of some 70 aircraft was a reprise of the display originally intended for the coronation, which had been curtailed due to poor weather. From 2025, the King opted to resume using a horse-drawn royal state carriage.
Participants and parade summary
On the day of Trooping the Colour, the Royal Standard is flown from Buckingham Palace and from Horse Guards Building.
A note on sources
The information for the ensuing section is drawn from the visuals and music, plus the annual commentary and analysis on the BBC's live broadcast, as well as the annual programme for the event.
Foot Guards, including Escort to the Colour (No. 1 Guard)
Nos. 1–6 Guards: six companies of Foot Guards, each comprising three officers (Major or Captain, two Subalterns) and seventy-one other ranks, line two sides of the perimeter of Horse Guards Parade in an extended 'L' shape. This recalls the defensive formation known as the 'hollow square'.
All six companies are collectively commanded as 'Guards...', and individually by company number, e.g., 'No. 3 Guard...'. Up to eight Guards have taken part, the number varying over the years. The most Guards ever seen on parade was eleven, as seen on the 1919 parade held in Hyde Park.
The battalion trooping its colour in any given year is No. 1 Guard. During the parade, they are referred to as 'Escort FOR the Colour' (and, once they have collected their colour during the ceremony, as 'Escort TO the Colour'). At the outset, the colour is held by the Colour Party – a colour sergeant and two other guardsmen of No. 1 Guard, standing well-spaced on the northern side of Horse Guards Parade. Once obtained by the Regimental Sergeant Major of No. 1 Guard, the colour is borne through the ranks of Nos. 2–6 Guards by an Ensign of No. 1 Guard.
Mounted troops and Sovereign's Escort
Lining the edge of St. James's Park are the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment; the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals.
In the Royal Procession, the Household Cavalry are termed 'Sovereign's Escort'. Two divisions ride before the King mounted on horseback and two behind, and the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals alternate these positions each year.
Commanding officers and parade coordination
Three mounted officers drawn from No. 1 Guard give drill commands during the parade. The most senior is the Field Officer in Brigade Waiting (rank of Lieutenant Colonel), occupying a central position on the parade ground. He is assisted by the Major of the Parade, who is positioned by No. 1 Guard, and the Adjutant, positioned by No. 6 Guard.
The Garrison Sergeant Major of London District, who is not mounted, coordinates the whole event on the parade ground and the approach road from The Mall.
Military bands
With almost 400 musicians on the field, led by the Massed Bands of the Household Division, the music forms an integral part of the day. The massed bands of the Foot Guards number over 200 musicians. Joining them, since 2014, is the Mounted Band of the Household Cavalry. The musicians of all these bands are all members of the Royal Corps of Army Music. There is also a Corps of Drums from several of the regiments and, on some occasions, pipe bands of the Scots Guards and Irish Guards. As per divisional tradition, the Corps of Drums and Pipe Bands form up behind the Massed Bands. As per Queen Elizabeth II's request, during a Scots or Irish Guards troop, the Pipers would march to the front of the Massed Bands to play the regimental quick marches of the Scots and Irish Guards as their Guards march past in quick time.
Summary of the parade design
The entire parade is best understood as an exercise of several elements carried out in slow and quick march time, with the Trooping the Colour phase forming the centrepiece.
The Sovereign inspects first the Foot Guards and then the Household Cavalry and King's Troop, to slow and quick march music respectively.
Then the massed bands 'troop' before the Sovereign in slow and quick time. A lone drummer breaks away to No. 1 Guard.
Drummer's Call signals No. 1 Guard; the Escort for the Colour, to march to the centre of the field and obtain their colour from the Colour Party. The massed bands execute the 'Spin Wheel' manoeuvre.
As 'Escort TO the Colour', No. 1 Guard then slowly troops its regimental colour through the ranks of Guards Nos. 6–2.
After forming divisions, Nos. 1–6 Guards march past the Sovereign in slow and quick time.
To music from the mounted band, the King's Troop leads the Household Cavalry past the Sovereign, first in walk-march and then in sitting-trot (i.e., slow and quick time for the horses). The mounted band then salute the Sovereign as they walk off.
Finally, led by the Sovereign's Escort, the massed bands play the Sovereign back to Buckingham Palace, the foot guards following, as the King's Troop leaves Horse Guards first to Green Park.
Ceremonial commands and troop movements
The entire parade is supervised by the Field Officer in Brigade Waiting (sometimes shortened to 'Field Officer'), with the assistance of the Brigade Major and the Adjutant, all on horseback, and joined by the London District Garrison Sergeant Major, who is unmounted and coordinates the proceedings of the ceremony.
March on
A detail of guardsmen bearing marker flags marches on, to mark the positions of Nos. 1-6 Guards. These marker flags are the respective company colours from each regiment.
Preceded by their regimental bands, Nos. 1-6 Guards march into position. No. 1 Guard is 'Escort for the Colour'.
Nos. 1-5 Guards align in two ranks on the west side of the parade ground facing Horse Guards Building.
No. 6 Guard lines up perpendicular to them on the north side, thus making an 'L' shape. Up to eight Guards companies may take part. Nos. 7 and 8 Guards, if present, would line up next to No. 6 Guard. In 2009, to reflect the successful recruitment efforts of the Irish Guards, there were seven Guards on Horse Guards.
The massed bands are on the south side, by the gardens of 10 Downing Street.
Adjacent to No. 6 Guard is the Colour Party made up of three soldiers. A snare drummer joins them in the march on. As the party takes its place the drummer marches off and the colour's casing is removed, revealing the colour to be trooped.
The King's Troop, the Household Cavalry, and their mounted band form up behind Nos. 1-5 Guards.
With the foot guards in their home service order, and the mounted band in state dress uniform, the assembled ranks of Household Division make a colourful spectacle.
Guards half-companies line up on the road to Horse Guards Parade, to provide security to the Royal Family that will arrive later, and to the marching and mounted contingents.
Arrival of the sovereign
Preceding the sovereign, senior members of the royal family arrive in barouches to view the ceremony from a central first floor window in the Duke of Wellington's former office in Horse Guards Building. This procession turns at the Guards Memorial, and No. 3 Guard has opened ranks to allow their carriages to pass through.