Editing Trooping the Colour (section)

==Participants and parade summary==
[[File:Soldiers Trooping the Colour, 16th June 2007.jpg|thumb|A company of [[Welsh Guards]], recognisable by the leeks on their collars and five-button groupings on their jackets, denoting their status as the most junior of the five Foot Guards regiments]]
On the day of Trooping the Colour, the [[Royal Standard of the United Kingdom|Royal Standard]] is flown from [[Buckingham Palace]] and from [[Horse Guards (building)|Horse Guards Building]].

===A note on sources===
The information for the ensuing section is drawn from the visuals and music, plus the annual commentary and analysis on the BBC's live broadcast, as well as the annual programme for the event.

===Foot Guards, including Escort to the Colour (No. 1 Guard)===
''Nos. 1–6 Guards'' – six companies of [[Foot Guards]], each comprising 3 officers and 71 other ranks <ref>Major or Captain, two Subalterns</ref> – line two sides of the perimeter of [[Horse Guards Parade]] in an extended "L" shape. This recalls the defensive formation known as the "[[hollow square]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trooping-the-colour.co.uk/trooping/marchon.htm|title=March On|access-date=14 June 2010}}</ref>

All six companies are collectively commanded as "Guards..." and individually by company number, e.g., "No. 3 Guard..." Up to eight Guards have taken part, the number varying over the years. The most Guards ever seen on parade was 11, as seen on the 1919 parade held in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]].<ref>Six Guards in 1939, five in 1954, seven from 1963 to 1967, and then eight until 1992, after which there have been six, except in 2009, when there were 7.   See p. 83 Gow, Michael ''Trooping the Colour: A History of the Sovereign's Birthday Parade'' 1988 Souvenir Press</ref>
 
The [[battalion]] trooping its colour in any given year is No. 1 Guard. During the parade, they are referred to as 'Escort FOR the Colour' (and, once they have collected their colour during the ceremony, as 'Escort TO the Colour').  At the outset, the colour is held by the Colour Party – a colour sergeant and two other guardsmen of No. 1 Guard, standing well-spaced on the northern side of Horse Guards Parade. Once obtained by the [[Regimental Sergeant Major]] of No. 1 Guard, the colour is borne through the ranks of Nos. 2–6 Guards by an Ensign of No. 1 Guard.

===Mounted troops and Sovereign's Escort===
[[File:Massed Mounted Band, Trooping the Colour, 16 June 2007.jpg|thumb|Mounted band of the [[Household Cavalry]] at Trooping the Colour 2007. The rider of the [[piebald]] (black-and-white) drum horse, working the reins with his feet, crosses drumsticks above his head in salute.]]
Lining the edge of [[St. James's Park]] are the [[King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery]] and the [[Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment]] – the [[Life Guards (United Kingdom)|Life Guards]] and the [[Blues and Royals]].

In the Royal Procession, the Household Cavalry are termed "Sovereign's Escort". Two divisions ride before the King mounted on horseback and two behind, and the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals alternate these positions each year.

===Commanding officers and parade coordination===
Three mounted officers drawn from No. 1 Guard give drill commands during the parade. The most senior is the [[Field Officer in Brigade Waiting]] (rank of Lieutenant Colonel), assisted by the Major of the Parade. The Field Officer occupies a central position on the parade ground. The third mounted officer is the [[Adjutant]].

The [[Garrison Sergeant Major]] of [[London District (British Army)|London District]], who is not mounted, coordinates the whole event on the parade ground and the approach road from [[The Mall, London|The Mall]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Ceremonial for the Army 2008 Amdt 2|year=2008|publisher=British Army}}</ref>

===Military bands===
[[File:Trooping the Colour.JPG|thumb|right|Musicians of the [[Foot Guards]] marching along [[The Mall, London|the Mall]], June 2012]]
With almost 400 musicians on the field, led by the Massed [[Bands of the Household Division (United Kingdom)|Bands of the Household Division]], the music forms an integral part of the day. The massed bands of the [[Foot Guards]] number over 200 musicians. Joining them, since 2014, is the [[Mounted Band of the Household Cavalry]]. The musicians of all these bands are all members of the [[Royal Corps of Army Music]]. There is also a [[Corps of Drums]] from several of the regiments and, on some occasions, [[pipe band]]s of the [[Scots Guards]] and [[Irish Guards]]. As per divisional tradition, the Corps of Drums and Pipe Bands form up behind the Massed Bands. As per Queen [[Elizabeth II]]'s request, during a Scots or Irish Guards troop, the Pipers would march to the front of the Massed Bands to play the regimental quick marches of the Scots and Irish Guards as their Guards march past in quick time.

===Summary of the parade design===
The entire parade is best understood as an exercise of several elements carried out in slow and quick march time, with the Trooping the Colour phase forming the centrepiece.

* The Sovereign inspects first the [[Foot Guards]] and then the [[Household Cavalry]] and [[King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery|King's Troop]], to slow and quick march music respectively.
* Then the massed bands "troop" before the Sovereign in slow and quick time. A lone drummer breaks away to no 1 Guard.
* Drummer's Call signals No. 1 Guard – the Escort for the Colour – to march to the centre of the field and obtain their colour from the Colour Party. The massed bands execute the "[[Spin Wheel]]" manoeuvre.
* As "Escort to the Colour", No. 1 Guard then slowly troops its regimental colour through the ranks of Guards Nos. 6–2.
* After forming divisions, Nos. 1–6 Guards march past the Sovereign in slow and quick time.
* To music from the mounted band, The King's Troop leads the Household Cavalry past the Sovereign, first in walk-march and then in sitting-trot (i.e., slow and quick time for the horses). The mounted band then salute the Sovereign as they walk off.
* Finally, led by the Sovereign's Escort, the massed bands play the Sovereign back to Buckingham Palace, the foot guards following, as the King's Troop leaves Horse Guards first to Green Park.