(NOTE: I decided to redo last year's posts on this subject with updated links)

Previously on the Military Band News blog, we discussed why you should care about Trooping the Colour.

So today, let's take a look at the history of Trooping the Colour. The bibliography for everything I say in this post will be listed at the end, should you wish to research it further.

SO WHAT IS TROOPING THE COLOUR?

Quite bluntly, it's a celebration now of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom's official birthday and has been since about 1748. As of the writing of this article, this will be Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday. She will be a record-breaking 92 this year!


WHAT WAS TROOPING BEFORE IT WAS THE OFFICIAL BIRTHDAY?

Well, before that it was used for actual military purposes rather than ceremonial. However, note that every single item, no matter how small, is rooted deep in history. The flag you see on the field is called the "colour." Before a battle, it would be paraded through the ranks of the military, or trooped. Thus, everyone knew/remembered what their regimental colour looked like for such things as a rallying point.

Commentators on the BBC's presentation of Trooping, the State Opening of Parliament, and Beating Retreat often point out the very long and storied history of this.

SO THEY'RE ALL SOLDIERS?

Yes. Over 1,400 trained soldiers stand ready to guard their Colonel in Chief, who is Queen Elizabeth II at the time of this writing. Even the massed band, standing at around 400 strong during this event, are trained soldiers!

They stand ready to guard her life and to participate in ceremonial items such as Trooping. It is quite an honor to be in this parade, because it gets you quite close to her and you get to cast your glance directly at her. This would be similar to being able to guard the President of the United States. It's a huge honor and allows you to see "the boss."

WHY SHOULD I CARE? I'M IN A 10-TIME BANDS OF AMERICA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BAND AND—

All right, stop right there. First off, I'm not going to disparage Bands of America. I do respect their style and their choice of style. Trooping gives a lot of the exact same life lessons BoA gives you:

1. Attention to detail. Is your uniform clean? Shoes polished? Did you know you're supposed to ignite the black Kiwi shoe polish to get rid of the leather-destroying wax? I didn't know that last one!
2. Teamwork! Trooping is unlike any other marching activity, but if you're trying to "put the I in TEAM," you're going to make it all fail…just like with a corps style band.
3. Pain is temporary. Pride is forever. The soldiers, again including the massed bands, stand at attention for an impossibly large number of hours. Ever tried to stand at attention for that long? It's hard. You feel like you're going to pass out. However, the pride of a perfectly executed Trooping is worth the pain to them.
4. The footfalls. Dear god, the footfalls! You will hear them due to the absolute precision of the infantry here. Imagine hearing those footfalls in perfect timing with the Quick March of the British Grenadiers. Close your eyes and imagine them coming with their guns ready to fire and bayonets attached. It's quite scary, and that precision is the hallmark of the military and of the military style that I'm dedicated to upholding.

SO HOW DOES THIS PARADE WORK?

Trooping follows a specific timeframe here and each one is only slightly different. The main differences come in the songs played by the massed bands. While it tends to bring about an attitude of, "If you've seen one, you've seen them all," the slight differences are enough to keep you coming back. So here is a brief time frame of how the event works:

• The band members and infantry come to Horse Guard's Parade separately and then join up with their respective counterparts. The infantry will take a formation known as an Infantry Square or a Hollow Square. This is an historically accurate formation against cavalry attacks that is now considered an obsolete formatio. Said formation dates back to ancient Rome. The massed band, however, will take up a traditional block band formation.
• At precisely 11:00 AM London time, the sovereign, currently Queen Elizabeth II, will enter Horse Guard's. It doesn't pay to be late with her—she keeps a very tight schedule on this parade.
• The Queen will inspect her troops to both a "slow march" and a "fast march." The music picked will change every year, but the inspection does not. As the BBC commentators will tell you, she has a "keen eye for detail."
• The massed bands will perform Les Huguenots, the very traditional slow march of the massed bands. They will glide across the field, and you can even see their tracks! At two points of the song, they will perform a Follow the Leader Countermarch to reverse course to the other end.
• The massed band will then do it again to a faster march. This piece will change every year. During this time, one snare drummer will break from the massed bands to go to the Infantry Square.
• Said drummer will then do a "drummers call" which is a throwback to when formations and orders were sent via drum. In the heat of battle, an officer cannot get an order across gunfire like a drummer could.
• The group trooping their colour will then advance while the massed bands play the Quick March of the British Grenadiers. You will then hear a song called Escort to the Color, a slow march. Meanwhile…
• The band will perform a move called a Spin Wheel, a move that has never been written down and is more than a simple rotate. Spin Wheels allow the band to turn 90 degrees without changing the block shape at all. Some move a lot. Some don't move. Some look lost! However, once the Spin Wheel is completed, the band magically becomes a block again from the chaos.
• The rest of the infantry finally gets to move and marches past the monarch using their regiment's slow and quick marches. These can change every year, depending on the divisions at Trooping during the ceremony. So any number of regimental songs could be heard.
• The mounted bands come in. Yes, they play on horseback!
• The mounted cavalry (more horses) come in and trot past the sovereign in slow and fast pace. Naturally, the horses do not stay in perfect lock step.
• With Trooping completed, the groups march back to Buckingham Palace with the massed band in front, the Colonel in Chief immediately behind the band, and the troops following.
• The royal family all comes out on the balcony for a fly past by the Royal Air Force, usually the Red Arrows. This is akin to the United States' Blue Angels. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight sometimes happens during this time also.

And there you have it. The basics and a quick history of Trooping the Colour have been presented the best I can do at the moment. If you're interested now, I encourage you to see it. The entries start at 10:00 AM London Time and the actual parade starts at 11:00 SHARP London Time. I cannot stress this enough—the parade starts right at that time.

So come and view the living history of the marching arts.






BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SITES USED FOR THIS ARTICLE:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trooping_the_Colour (retrieved at the time of this article. At the time, it was not vandalized, etc)
http://www.householddivision.org.uk/trooping-the-colour
http://www.trooping.london/index.htm
http://www.army.mod.uk/events/ceremonial/23240.aspx
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/10890075/Trooping-the-Colour-6-life-lessons-you-can-learn-from-the-drill-square.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II (retrieved at the time of this article. At the time, it was not vandalized, etc)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_square (same as the other two wiki entries)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_Wheel (same as the other wiki entries)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain_Memorial_Flight (same as the other wiki entries)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8kvzZobTrjnWgQakKSD3TbnueZcO6ePk

PS—CURSE YOU AUTOCORRECT! I am spelling Colour correctly for the purposes of this article…