The King's Colour Squadron is the unit of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

charged with the safe-keeping of the King's Colour for the Royal Air Force in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Since its formation, it has been formed exclusively by Officers and Gunners of No. 63 Squadron RAF Regiment. The Squadron is tasked with representing the

at events and ceremonies, both at home and abroad. In addition to Royal Air Force events, the Squadron has the privilege of mounting the King's Guard at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

and

The Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

each year, and regularly has the honour of welcoming visiting heads of state on their arrival to the

. The Squadron also supports State ceremonial tasks. This routinely includes providing ceremonial guards for the

State Opening of Parliament The State Opening of Parliament is a ceremonial event which formally marks the beginning of each Legislative session, session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At its core is His or Her Majesty's "Speech from the throne, gracious speech ...

, the

National Service of Remembrance The National Service of Remembrance is held every year on Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, London. It commemorates "the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and ...

parade at the

Cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

, and large UK hosted events such as the G7 Summit in Cornwall in 2021. The Squadron is also responsible for the ceremonial repatriation of serving Royal Air Force personnel from overseas and members of the Royal Family; in 1997, following the untimely death of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

, the Squadron provided the bearer party that recovered the coffin from Paris. The Squadron provided the Bearer Party and Guard of Honour when an RAF C-17 delivered

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

's coffin to London from Scotland on her death in September 2022.

History

The Royal Air Force formed a ceremonial drill unit based at the Royal Air Force Depot at

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, in the early 1920s and first performed

public duties Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role. Armenia Since September 2018, the Honour Guard Battalion (Armenia), Honour Guard Battalion of the Mi ...

when it mounted the King’s Guard at Buckingham Palace on 1 April 1943 for King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

. This honour was bestowed upon the Royal Air Force which, at the time, whilst eligible to mount the guard due to being a formed military unit for 25 years, were ineligible due to not being an infantry unit. This led to the

Royal Air Force Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries-out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated ...

, despite being only created by Royal Warrant a year prior, mounting the King’s Guard on behalf of the Royal Air Force, a duty which it has carried out every year since. Buckingham-Wachabloesung 30

In 1960, the RAF Drill Unit was charged with the task of guarding and escorting the Queen's Colour for the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom, and was renamed the Queen's Colour Squadron. It was a pure ceremonial unit for 30 years, providing the sole escort to the Colour, and famed for its displays of continuity drill, which are performed without a single word of command. The most notable displays include the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

's Festival of Remembrance and

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Ca ...

. More recently, Hong Kong, also the Squadron was privileged to take part in the

RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries-out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated ...

’s 80th anniversary parade held at

. This saw all Squadrons of the RAF Regiment parading their Standards on the forecourt of the palace, during a unique Changing of the Guard ceremony consisting of the Old and New Guard being formed entirely of Queen’s Colour Squadron personnel, all under the watchful eye of

The Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain and the peerage of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, most recently as a Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, royal dukedom ...

. The 1990

Options for Change Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces ...

defence reforms led to the Squadron being given an operational role as a field Squadron in addition to its ceremonial role. For this, it was given the 'number plate' of No 63 Squadron, being renamed The Queen's Colour Squadron RAF 63 Squadron RAF Regiment. Alongside members of the ship's company from

HMS Illustrious There have been five ships in the Royal Navy to bear the name HMS ''Illustrious''. The ship's motto is "Vox Non Incerta" which translates as "No Uncertain Sound". * was a 74-gun third rate, and launched at Buckler's Hard in 1789. She had two eng ...

, and those of the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

, 12 serving members of the QCS were the last military presence in Hong Kong before it was handed back in 1997. Also in 1997, eight members of the squadron were provided to be coffin-bearers at RAF Northolt on the repatriation of Diana, Princess of Wales, after her death in Paris. The Squadron provided the Bearer Party and Guard of Honour when an RAF plane delivered Queen Elizabeth II's coffin to

RAF Northolt Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in South Ruislip, from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately north of ...

at London from Scotland following her death in September 2022. Following the accession of

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, The Queen's Colour Squadron became the custodians of The King's Colour for the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom, the squadron name was changed to King's Colour Squadron on 27 October 2022.

References

External links

King's Colour Squadron Official SiteQueen's Colour Squadron Precision drill at Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2004Official RAF Regiment homepage
{{Air force infantry Military units and formations established in 1943 British ceremonial units Royal Air Force Regiment squadrons Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Falklands War

History

See also

References

External links