The Colours

The Colours: In the British Army the Colours have not been taken into the field by regiments since 1881. The Canadian "Princess Pats" were the only regiment that had regimental colours with them on the Western Front in the war. In British regiments eventually Company Colours were found necessary by many units, and were often improvised to serve as guiding points to the artillery in barrage firing. They were either improvised on the spot, or else, as with the Royal Scots, specially made at home and sent out.

After the Armistice, the battalions occupying Cologne and the Rhine districts had their Colours sent out to them from the depôts and places such as churches, town halls and other public buildings where they had been deposited during the war. In 1919 a King's Colour (a Union Flag) was presented to each Service Battalion engaged in the war, on the understanding that on disbandment it should be deposited in a church or public institution locally connected with the unit.