The Parade Commander, Trooping the Colour--single mounted Coldstream Guard Colonel figure
$125.00
Item Number: CE050
"The Parade Commander"
In charge of the entire ceremony on Horse Guards Parade is the mounted ‘Parade Commander’. This senior officer, usually a full colonel, is selected from one of the five Guards Regiments on parade that day. Our particular Parade Commander is a Colonel of The Coldstream Guards.
"Trooping the Colour"
This ceremony has been performed by army regiments of the British and Commonwealth nations since the mid 17th Century. In olden times, on the battlefield, a regiment’s ‘colours’ or flags, were used as rallying points before the age of electronics and field radios. Regiments back then would have their ensigns (junior officers) carry their ‘colours’ slowly through the assembled rank and file to enable the soldiers to recognize their own regimental flags during the battle. Beginning in 1750, ‘Trooping The Colour’ has also in Britain, signified the Sovereign’s official birthday. Each year, ever since, a huge military ceremony is usually held on the second Saturday in June on Horse Guards Parade in London. The Queen, ElizabethⅡ, travels down the Mall from Buckingham Palace in a royal procession accompanied by a large sovereign’s escort of her Household Cavalry. After arriving at Horse Guards Parade her majesty inspects some of her soldiers from the Household Division… both foot guards and mounted horse guards. In addition The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, a mounted ceremonial artillery battery, also take part in the event. Each year one of the five foot guards regiments (The Grenadiers, The Coldstream, The Scots, The Welsh and The Irish Guards) is selected to troop its own regimental colour through the ranks of the assembled guards on parade. Then the entire assembly of mounted and foot soldiers conduct a march past the Queen. Parading with its guns, the ‘King’s Troop’ takes precedence and leads the salute to the Queen, first at a walking pace and then at a trot. Music for the event is provided by the massed military bands of the five foot guard regiments together with the ‘Corp of Drums’ and occasionally the ‘Pipes & Drums’ of either or both the Scots Guards and the Irish Guards. The ‘Mounted Band’ of the Household Cavalry also take part. Combined there are usually over 400 musicians on parade. Put all together it is possibly the most colourful and spectacular military parade in the world today. CE050-052, 055
Released in DECEMBER 2020.
