The Trooping of the Colour ceremony began in the early 1700's with a parade of Regimental flags, or "colours", through the ranks of troops to allow the troops to identify their own and other friendly units -- and thereby distinguish them from foes on the battlefield. Today, the annual event is ceremonial, allowing the Queen to inspect the troops and commemorating the Queen's birthday. Nonetheless, with the tradition and long history associated with each military unit, the ceremony is very moving -- and it is especially meaningful to those who have served in the Queen's military.Each year, on the Saturday before the actual event, there is a full dress rehearsal. That dress rehearsal was held today at Horse Guards in London, and we were lucky ticket holders. For today's event, it was Prince Charles, and not the Queen, who inspected the troops. Here he is, entering the parade grounds:
The units inspected (both Foot Guards and Royal Horse Artillery) are not merely ceremonial troops -- they are battle-ready soldiers. One of the units on parade today was a unit of the Coldstream Guards just returned from front-line duties in Afghanistan. We learned today that the insignia on the side of each hat identifies the particular regiment on parade. The green and white hat insignia (and the corresponding shoulder board insignia) signifies the Welsh Guards:
and the red insignia identifies the Coldstream Guards:
Here are some additional photos from today's exciting event. (You'll see that the Queen's carriage is empty -- she'll be in it next week!)
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