Lesson Overview
The earlier lessons of this course taught what the Colours are, how they are consecrated, guarded, trooped, and laid up, and then turned to the honours of the Principality, the decorations and medals, the order of wear, and the recognition of service. This lesson takes that knowledge out onto the parade and puts it to its most public use. The guard of honour is the occasion on which an armed body of the Army, often with its Colour paraded and a band at its side, renders the State's highest compliments in person, to the Sovereign above all, to the Princely House, to a visiting head of state, and to the State's most distinguished guests. It is drill raised to its very highest standard, because it is the Army on display at the closest range, under the eye of the Crown or its honoured guests, and judged soldier by soldier at arm's length.
At the heart of the lesson is one rule, simple to state and easy to get wrong, on which the whole meaning of the occasion turns: a Colour is dipped only to the Sovereign, or to a regent or vice-regal representative standing in the Sovereign's place, and to no one else, however distinguished. To the Sovereign the guard renders the royal salute and the Colour is lowered; to any other person the guard renders the general salute and the Colour is not dipped. This is not a discourtesy to the guest. It is the mark of what the Colour is, a consecrated emblem of the Army's loyalty to the Crown, lowered to the Crown alone. The Drill and Ceremonial course (RMT 130) introduced the guard of honour; this course goes deeper, and the deepest point of it is the discipline of the salute and the dignity the guard must hold throughout. The conduct of the military funeral and the day of mourning, where this same rule governs again, belongs to the next lesson; here the occasion is the living one, the rendering of honour to those the State delights to honour.
As in every lesson of this course, this is the knowledge layer. To present arms on a single word of command, to dress a line so that a hundred soldiers stand as one, to hold perfect stillness through a long inspection, these are physical skills built on the square under a drill instructor and certified in person. Here you learn the conduct of the occasion: when a guard is found and whom it honours, how it is formed and conducted from forming up to march-off, the salutes it renders and the firm rule of the Colour, and the bearing and precision it must hold from first to last. By the end you will be able to describe the guard of honour and the occasions on which it is found, set out the conduct of a guard step by step, explain the difference between the royal salute and the general salute and state firmly to whom the Colour is and is not dipped, describe the bearing and precision a guard must hold and the place of the band and the national anthem where present, and explain why the rule of the Colour is the mark of what the Colour is and not a slight to a guest.
Key Terms
- Guard of honour: a body of soldiers drawn up under arms to receive and honour a person of the highest distinction, rendering a formal salute and standing a close inspection; the Army's compliments paid in person by a whole armed body.
- Royal salute: the highest compliment the Army renders on parade, given to the Sovereign and, where the protocol so provides, to a member of the Princely House or to one standing in the Sovereign's place; the only salute at which the Colour is dipped.
- General salute: the compliment rendered to any other person entitled to honours, however distinguished, at which the guard presents arms but the Colour is not dipped.
- Present arms: the movement, made on the word of command, by which an armed body brings its weapons to the formal saluting position; it is the body of the salute, royal or general, that a guard renders.
- Dipping the Colour: the lowering of a Colour in salute, rendered only to the Sovereign or to a regent or vice-regal representative standing in the Sovereign's place, and to no one else; the supreme act of homage of the consecrated emblem.
- Inspection: the walking of the ranks by the person honoured, examining each soldier's turnout and bearing at close quarters; the heart of the occasion and the reason the standard must be flawless.
- Guard commander: the officer or senior non-commissioned officer who forms, dresses, inspects, and commands the guard, receives the person honoured, and gives the words of command for its salutes.
- Ensign: a flag, or the bearer who carries a flag or the Colour; it is not a rank. The Colour-bearer carries but never dips the Colour save to the Sovereign.
- National anthem: the air played by the band, where one is present, as the guard renders the royal salute, marking the moment of highest compliment.
When a guard of honour is found, and whom it honours
A guard of honour is found on the authority and in the manner laid down in standing orders and the protocol of the State, and it is not a thing got up on local whim. It is mounted to render honours to the Sovereign, to a member of the Princely House, to a visiting head of state, to an ambassador presenting credentials, or to another dignitary the State wishes to honour, and it is mounted on occasions of state and on formal arrivals and departures. The Sovereign, H.R.H. The Prince of Kaharagia and Supreme Commander, stands above all others a guard may honour; everything in the form of the guard, and above all the rule of the Colour, is ordered around that fact.
The guard is found, armed, dressed, and drilled to the standard the occasion requires, and it renders the honours due with precision and dignity. It is held to the very highest standard of any ceremonial duty, because it is the Army on display in its most public and most scrutinised form, examined not from a distance but at arm's length, soldier by soldier. A guard of honour is a picked body, chosen for turnout and bearing, because it must withstand close inspection and stand wholly still for a long time, and because a single soldier out of dress mars the whole line. Selection for a guard is itself a mark of trust: it says the soldier can be relied on to be the Army's face at the closest range, under the eye of the Crown or its most honoured guests.
It matters to be clear, at the outset, what the guard exists to honour. It does not honour the person merely as a person; it honours the appointment they hold and, above all, the Crown they represent or the State that receives them. This is why the same forms are rendered to whoever holds the office, and why the compliment is owed to the office even where a soldier knows nothing of the individual. The earlier teaching of the Service, that a compliment is rendered to the appointment and the Crown rather than to the person, is the guard of honour brought to its highest pitch: the same salute a soldier renders alone with the hand, rendered now by a whole armed body in unison with the present arms, and carrying exactly the same meaning.
WHEN A GUARD OF HONOUR IS FOUND + WHOM IT HONOURS
FOUND: on the authority + protocol of the State (standing orders),
for occasions of state and formal arrivals / departures
-> NOT a local whim; found, armed, dressed + drilled to the
standard the occasion requires
HONOURS: the SOVEREIGN above all (H.R.H. The Prince, Supreme Commander)
a member of the Princely House
a visiting head of state
an ambassador presenting credentials
another dignitary the State wishes to honour
IS: a PICKED body, chosen for turnout + bearing; the Army on
display at the CLOSEST range, judged soldier by soldier
-> selection is itself a mark of trust
HONOURS THE APPOINTMENT + THE CROWN, not the person merely:
the same forms to whoever holds the office.
Forming the guard, and its parts
A guard of honour is drawn up in line, armed with the parade weapon, commonly in two ranks under a guard commander, with the small number of supernumeraries needed to dress the ranks and pass the words of command. Where the unit is entitled to carry it, the Colour parades with its escort and takes its place in the guard; where a band or corps of drums exists it parades with the guard to play the salutes and to mark the movement of the person honoured. Ceremonial dress is worn, and every weapon, belt, and boot is brought to the same exact standard, because the guard is about to be examined at the closest range the Army is ever examined.
The guard is timed as carefully as it is dressed. It forms up, is inspected by its own commander, and stands ready well before the person honoured is due, because a guard must never be caught unready or moving when the dignitary arrives. Much of its duty is then the discipline of waiting: standing easy on the order, watching for the approach, coming smartly to attention at the warning of arrival, and holding perfect stillness until the occasion is complete. The standard lies as much in the long minutes of stillness as in the movements themselves.
A word on the parts and the names, because the careless get them wrong. The Colour-bearer is an ensign in the proper sense of that word, which means a flag or the one who carries it, and not a rank: there is no rank of ensign in the Service, and the bearer who carries the Colour may be a junior officer, a Second Lieutenant (OF-1), or a senior non-commissioned officer such as a Staff or Colour Sergeant (OR-5), according to the unit's custom and the standing orders. The Colour escort guards the Colour in the guard exactly as it does on any parade. The guard commander is the officer or senior non-commissioned officer who forms, dresses, and commands the whole, receives the person honoured, and gives the words of command for the salute. No part of the guard improvises; each knows its place and its movement before the day.
The salutes a guard renders, and the rule of the Colour
Here is the centre of the lesson, and the point on which ceremonial is most easily got wrong. A guard renders one of two salutes, and the difference between them is exact and must be known.
To the Sovereign, and to a regent or vice-regal representative standing in the Sovereign's place, the guard renders the royal salute: the highest compliment the Army can pay on parade. On the word of command the whole guard presents arms together as one movement; where a band is present it plays the royal salute and the national anthem; and the Colour, if carried, is dipped, lowered in homage to the Crown. This is the supreme act of the consecrated emblem, the Colour bowing to the one to whom alone it bows.
To any other person entitled to honours, however distinguished, the guard renders the general salute: the whole guard presents arms together exactly as before, and where a band is present it plays the general salute, but the Colour is not dipped. It is carried upright, at the carry, and not lowered, no matter how senior or how honoured the guest. A visiting head of state, an ambassador, a member of the Government, a great soldier of a friendly army, all receive the general salute with the Colour upright. The Colour does not dip to them, and a guard commander who dipped it to them would be committing not a courtesy but an error of the gravest kind.
Why is this so, and how is it not a slight to the guest? Because a Colour is not a flag of greeting or a mark of personal regard. It is a consecrated emblem of the Army's loyalty to the Crown, and to dip it is to render homage. That homage belongs to the Sovereign alone, the source of the Army's loyalty and the one in whose name it serves. To dip the Colour to another would not honour that other; it would say a false thing about the Colour, that its loyalty was a thing it would lower to whoever was grand enough, when its whole meaning is that it lowers to the Crown and to nothing else. The guest is honoured in full by the present arms, the general salute, the band, and the inspection; the upright Colour is no withholding from the guest but a truth kept about the emblem. The most distinguished guest the Principality could receive would understand it so, because the same rule governs in their own country.
Two further distinctions must be held, because both are constantly confused with the dipping of the Colour, and the next lesson will lean on them. First, flags are never dipped at all, to anyone, not even to the Sovereign: the National Flag and the Army Ensign are flags, not Colours, and a flag is flown, struck, and half-masted, but it is not lowered in salute. Second, a Colour is never half-masted: in mourning a Colour is draped with black crape or cased, carried covered as a mark of grief, but it is the flag, not the Colour, that is half-masted, and that is matter for the next lesson. Keep these apart and the whole of ceremonial falls into order; confuse them and the careless errors begin.
THE SALUTES A GUARD RENDERS
PERSON HONOURED SALUTE PRESENT BAND PLAYS COLOUR
-------------------- ------------- ------- ------------ ----------
THE SOVEREIGN ROYAL SALUTE arms, royal salute DIPPED
(or regent / vice- as one + national (lowered
regal rep standing anthem in homage)
in the Sovereign's
place)
any OTHER dignitary, GENERAL arms, general NOT dipped
however distinguished SALUTE as one salute (carried
(head of state, amb- upright,
assador, minister...) at the
carry)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FLAGS (National Flag, Army Ensign): NEVER dipped, to ANYONE.
A COLOUR in mourning is DRAPED or CASED, NEVER half-masted.
"Ensign" = a flag, or the Colour-BEARER. It is NOT a rank.
WHY the Colour dips to the Sovereign alone:
the Colour is a CONSECRATED emblem of loyalty to the CROWN.
To dip it is HOMAGE -- owed to the Crown, and to nothing else.
The guest is honoured in FULL by the general salute; the upright
Colour is a truth kept about the emblem, NOT a slight to the guest.
The conduct of a guard, step by step
The drill of each movement belongs to the square; what follows is the sequence in which those movements are strung together to receive a dignitary, and the standard each step demands. Learn the order of events here, so that when you take your place in a guard you already know the shape of the occasion and never have to think about what comes next.
First, the guard forms up and is prepared. It marches on, or is formed up, in good time; the guard commander dresses the ranks and carries out a close preliminary inspection, correcting every fault of dress and turnout before any guest is near. The Colour, if carried, is marched on with its escort and takes its place; the band, if present, takes post. The guard is then stood at ease, or stood easy, to wait, the supernumeraries watching for the dignitary's approach.
Second, on the warning of arrival, the guard is brought to attention and made ready. Every soldier is still, eyes front, weapon correct, the long discipline of waiting giving way to the sharp readiness of the occasion. The guard commander posts himself to receive the person honoured.
Third, on the arrival of the person honoured, the guard renders the salute on the word of command, the whole guard presenting arms as one: the royal salute to the Sovereign or one standing in the Sovereign's place, with the band playing the royal salute and the national anthem and the Colour dipped; the general salute to any other dignitary, with the Colour upright. The guard holds the present until the salute is acknowledged and the order is given to shoulder or order arms. The salute is given as one movement, the whole guard moving together on the single word, because the unison is itself part of the compliment.
Fourth comes the inspection. The guard stands at the present, or is ordered to the shoulder or to attention, and the person honoured walks the ranks, commonly with the guard commander, examining the soldiers at close quarters. This is the test the whole standard exists for. Each soldier remains rigidly still, eyes front, or following the inspecting party with the eyes alone where the drill so requires, showing no flicker of movement however long the inspection lasts. No ceremonial duty shows the meaning of drill more plainly or judges it more closely.
Fifth, the compliments are maintained throughout the remainder of the occasion, and the guard salutes again on the departure of the person honoured exactly as on arrival, presenting arms on the word of command, the band playing and the Colour treated by the same rule, dipped to the Sovereign, upright to all others. Honours are paid on every coming and going of the dignitary while the guard is mounted, not only at the first arrival.
Sixth and last, when the occasion is complete and the dignitary has departed, the guard is marched off in good order, the Colour and band with it, and only then is it dismissed. The bearing held to the very end is part of the honour. A guard does not relax the moment the guest's back is turned, because the public is watching still, and the guard is the Army until it is off parade.
A GUARD OF HONOUR RECEIVING A DIGNITARY (sequence)
1. FORM UP & PREPARE marched on in good time; commander dresses
ranks; Colour & band take post; close
preliminary inspection; stand at ease to wait
2. READY on warning of arrival, called to ATTENTION;
stillness; commander posts to receive
3. SALUTE (arrival) on the word, the guard PRESENTS ARMS as one
- SOVEREIGN (or one standing in his place)
-> ROYAL SALUTE; band plays royal salute
+ national anthem; COLOUR DIPPED
- other dignitary
-> GENERAL SALUTE; band plays general
salute; COLOUR UPRIGHT
4. INSPECTION dignitary walks the ranks; each soldier
rigidly still; turnout & bearing judged at
arm's length
5. COMPLIMENTS HELD honours maintained throughout; salute repeated
on the dignitary's DEPARTURE by the SAME rule
6. MARCH OFF guard, Colour & band marched off in good order;
bearing held to the end; then dismissed
The bearing the guard must hold, and the place of the band
The exceptional standard runs through every step: a standard of turnout, that no fault of dress survives the preliminary inspection; of steadiness, that no soldier moves under the dignitary's eye; of timing, that the salutes fall exactly on arrival and departure and the guard is never caught unready; and of unison, that a hundred hands move as one on a single word. Bearing is everything, because the guard exists to be looked at closely and to do honour by the perfection of its drill. The compliment a guard pays is not in the words spoken, for there are none, but in the standard itself; the standard is the compliment.
The hardest part of it, and where unprepared soldiers fail, is the long stand. Standing rigidly still for a long period, immaculate and controlled, through the minutes of waiting and the slow walk of an inspection, is physically hard: the legs tire, the back aches, and in heat or cold the body protests. The trained soldier manages it without breaking the stillness. He locks nothing rigidly but holds the position by balance; he keeps the knees unlocked enough that the blood does not pool; he fixes the eyes and lets the mind settle rather than fight; and he never shifts, scratches, or looks about, because the one thing a watching public remembers is the soldier who fidgeted while the State conducted its business. If a soldier feels faint, the disciplined course is to be helped out properly rather than to sway and topple in the ranks. The endurance of the long stand is itself a form of drill, and is honoured as such.
Where a band or corps of drums is present, it has a defined and important place. It parades with the guard, takes post, and plays the salute the occasion requires, the royal salute and the national anthem for the Sovereign, the general salute for another dignitary, marking the moment of highest compliment with the air the whole occasion turns upon. The national anthem at the royal salute is the audible counterpart of the dipped Colour: the two together, the Colour lowered and the anthem played, mark the supreme compliment rendered to the Crown. The band may also play during an inspection or to mark the movement of the dignitary, by the standing orders of the occasion. Where no band is available the guard renders its honours by drill alone, and the standard of the drill must carry the whole weight of the compliment unaided, which is why a guard without a band is, if anything, the more exacting.
In Practice: The Colour That Did Not Dip
A guard of honour is found to receive a visiting head of state, a friend of the Principality on a formal visit, and a young soldier of the guard carries the Colour, an ensign in the true sense of that word, with its escort beside him. In the days before, he rehearses on the square until the carry, the present, and the long stand need no thought, and he learns by heart the one thing he must not get wrong. On the day the guard forms up in good time, ceremonial dress immaculate, and the guard commander, an officer who dresses the ranks and carries out a close preliminary inspection, puts every fault right before the visitor is near. The guard stands easy to wait, the supernumeraries watching the approach.
On the warning of arrival the guard comes smartly to attention, and on the head of state's arrival the guard commander gives the word and the whole guard presents arms as one, the band playing the general salute. The young soldier holds the Colour upright, at the carry, and does not dip it, and for a moment, seeing how distinguished the guest is and how warmly he is received, he half-wonders whether he has it wrong. He has it exactly right. The guest is a head of state and a friend, and is honoured in full by the present arms, the general salute, the band, and the inspection that follows, in which the head of state walks the ranks with the guard commander while every soldier stands rigidly still, the young soldier holding the Colour and his own bearing without a flicker. The Colour stays upright because it is dipped only to the Sovereign, H.R.H. The Prince of Kaharagia, and to no one else, however grand; it is a consecrated emblem of the Army's loyalty to the Crown, and to lower it to another would not honour that other but speak a falsehood about the Colour. Had the Sovereign himself been received, the guard would have rendered the royal salute, the band would have played the royal salute and the national anthem, and the Colour would have been dipped in homage, the one occasion on which it bows. The honours are paid again, by the same rule, when the head of state departs; the guard is marched off in good order, the Colour and band with it, and only then dismissed, the bearing held to the very end. Nothing the young soldier does is dramatic, and that is the whole of it: he has paid a distinguished guest the State's full honours, and kept, by the upright Colour, the truth of what the Colour is.
Check Your Understanding
What is a guard of honour, on what authority and occasions is it found, and whom does it honour? Explain why it is held to the very highest standard of drill, and why the compliment is owed to the appointment and the Crown rather than to the person.
Set out the conduct of a guard receiving a dignitary step by step, from forming up to march-off, and say at which points the salute is rendered. Explain the difference between the royal salute and the general salute, and state the place of the band and the national anthem where present.
To whom is a Colour dipped, and to whom is it never dipped, however distinguished? Explain why the upright Colour at a general salute is not a discourtesy to the guest but the mark of what the Colour is. Then distinguish the dipping of a Colour from two things constantly confused with it: the half-masting of a flag, and the fact that flags are never dipped at all.
Reflection (write a short paragraph): This lesson argues that the firm rule of the Colour, dipped to the Sovereign alone and to no one else, is not a coldness toward a guest but a truth kept about a consecrated emblem. Think about why an army would render its most distinguished guest every honour but this one, and why holding that one line back is itself a kind of integrity. What does it say about the Colour, and about the loyalty it embodies, that it bows to the Crown alone? And what does it ask of the soldier who carries it, to keep the Colour upright before the grandest guest in the land because he understands what dipping it would mean?
Summary
- A guard of honour is an armed, picked body found on the authority and protocol of the State to render honours to the Sovereign above all, to the Princely House, to a visiting head of state, to an ambassador presenting credentials, or to another dignitary the State wishes to honour; it is held to the very highest standard because it is the Army on display at the closest range, judged soldier by soldier.
- The guard's conduct runs in sequence: form up and prepare, come to attention on the warning, render the salute on arrival, stand the inspection at close quarters, maintain the compliments throughout and salute again on departure by the same rule, then march off with bearing held to the end and only then dismiss.
- The guard renders one of two salutes. The royal salute is given to the Sovereign, or to a regent or vice-regal representative standing in the Sovereign's place; the whole guard presents arms, the band plays the royal salute and the national anthem, and the Colour is dipped in homage. The general salute is given to any other dignitary, however distinguished; the guard presents arms and the band plays the general salute, but the Colour is carried upright and not dipped.
- A Colour is dipped only to the Sovereign and to no one else. The upright Colour at a general salute is not a discourtesy to the guest, who is honoured in full by the present arms, the band, and the inspection; it is the mark of what the Colour is, a consecrated emblem of the Army's loyalty to the Crown, lowered in homage to the Crown alone.
- Three distinctions must be kept firm: flags (the National Flag and the Army Ensign) are never dipped at all, to anyone; a Colour is never half-masted, but in mourning is draped or cased, while it is the flag that is half-masted; and "ensign" means a flag or the Colour-bearer, not a rank, the bearer being a junior officer (OF-1) or a senior non-commissioned officer (OR-5) by the unit's custom.
- Bearing is the whole of the compliment: immaculate turnout in ceremonial dress, perfect stillness under the dignitary's eye, exact timing of the salutes, and a hundred hands moving as one. The long stand is itself a drill, managed by balance and discipline; and the band, where present, parades with the guard and plays the salute, the national anthem at the royal salute being the audible counterpart of the dipped Colour.
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