Editing Trooping the Colour (section)

===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.