Regimental History
The Colours of the Regiment
Regular Battalions
The Regiment
received several stands of Colours during the early part of its
existence, there being separate Colours for the Colonel, Lieutenant
Colonel, Major and each of the Companies; it is recorded that the
Regiment took new Colours into use in 1680, 1687, 1702 and 1707. During
the reigns of Queen Anne and George I, Regiments gradually abandoned the
Company and Major’s colours, retaining only the Colonel’s and Lieutenant
Colonel’s which became the Regimental and King’s or Queen’s Colours.
The Colours carried in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries measured 6
feet flying by 6 feet 6 inches on a pike 9 feet 10 inches long. By 1868
the size had been reduced to 3 feet 9 inches by 3 feet on a pike 8 feet
7 1/2 inches long. The King’s or Queen’s Colour was the Union flag, to
which ten Battle Honours were added after the First World War and a
further ten after the Second. The last Queen’s Colour of the King’s Own
Royal Regiment had in the centre the Regimental title within a circle.
The Regimental Colour which, until 1881, had a small Union Flag in the
top corner nearest the pike, was royal blue with a gold fringe. In the
top corner nearest the pike was the Battalion number in Roman numerals,
while in the centre was the Royal Cypher on a red ground within a circle
inscribed with the Regimental title, all within a wreath of thistles,
roses and shamrocks with a crown over. This was surrounded by sprays of
laurel bearing the Regimental Battle Honours up to 1914 with, in each of
the four corners, the Lion of England.
Colours 1687
An illustration survives of The Queen's Majesty's Regiment of Foot,
afterwards 4th King's Own, Colonel's Colour of 1687 and First Captain's
Colour of the same date.
Colours circa 1734-1751
King’s Own Royal Regiment of Foot. Colonel’s and Lieutenant Colonel’s
Colours presented by William Barrell,
probably when he became Colonel in 1734. Carried at the Battle of
Culloden. Passed eventually to the Stewards of Ballachulish and through
the Stewart Society laid up in the Scottish United Services Museum,
Edinburgh Castle, on 1st August 1931.
Colours 1751
4th Regiment of Foot. New Colours taken into use. Date of replacement
and location unknown.
Colours 1756
2nd Battalion, 4th Foot. Passed to Colonel
Alexander Duroure in 1758 and to his descendant Sir Godfrey Thomas.
Returned to the Regiment in December 1946 and laid up in the Regimental
Chapel on 17th August 1947.
Colours 1782
4th Foot. New Colours were imported to Ireland for the Regiment. In
September 1797 they were thrown overboard by Mrs
Elizabeth Maguire on the voyage back from Canada
to avoid capture by the French.
Colours 1799
1st Battalion, 4th Foot. Presented by HRH the Prince of Wales on 3rd
September 1799. Carried in the Peninsula and at Waterloo. The King’s
Colour passed to Colonel Faunce, who gave it to Captain Mason in 1828.
His daughter gave it to the Parish Church, Yately, Hampshire, in
September 1922. It was restored to the Regiment on 10th July 1927 and
laid up in the Regimental Chapel on 8th November. Whereabouts of
Regimental Colour unknown.
Colours 1799
2nd and 3rd Battalions, 4th Foot, raised in 1799 and disbanded in 1802.
There is no record of Colours being presented to these battalions.
Colours 1804
2nd Battalion, 4th Foot. No record of the Colours. Battalion disbanded
in December 1815.
Colours 1816
4th Foot. Presented by the Earl of Chatham at
Fauquemberques, Pas-de-Calais, France. Location unknown.
Colours 1828
4th Foot. Presented by the Earl of Chatham at
Glasgow on 27th September 1828. Passed to Sir Thomas Bradford in 1846
and deposited in Hartburn Parish Church, Northumberland, where they
still hang.
Colours 1846
4th Foot. Presented by Lieutenant
Colonel Breton at Kampti, India, on 24th March 1846. Carried in the
Crimea and during the Indian Mutiny. Placed in Exeter Guildhall in 1865,
restored to the Regiment by Exeter Corporation on 17th May 1938, and
laid up in the Regimental Chapel on 9th July 1938.
Colours 1859
2nd Battalion, 4th Foot. Presented by Sir James Yorke-Scarlett KCB at
Chichester on 22nd February 1859. Deposited in Windsor Castle on 13th
December 1878. Restored to the Regiment on 9th July 1937 and laid up in
the Regimental Chapel on 28th November 1937.
Colours 1864
1st Battalion, 4th Foot. Presented by Miss Frere at Poona, India on 27th
July 1864. Carried during the Abyssinian Campaign. Laid up in the
Regimental Chapel on 23rd February 1906.
Colours 1878
2nd Battalion, 4th Foot. Presented by HM Queen Victoria at Windsor on
6th December 1878. These were the last Colours to be carried on active
service during the Zulu War (1879). Laid up in the Regimental Chapel on
4th August 1926.

Postcard showing Regimental Colours of 2nd Battalion King’s Own Royal
Lancaster Regiment circa 1900
Accession Number: KO2494/01
Colours 1905
1st Battalion, King’s Own. Presented by HRH the Prince of Wales at Fort
William, Calcutta, on 30th December 1905.
Laid up in the Regimental
Chapel on 17th August 1947.
Colours 1926
2nd Battalion, King’s Own. Presented on 27th
January 1926, by Field Marshal Sir Claude Jacob
GCB GCSI KCMG at Rawalpindi, India. Retained by
the 1st Battalion when the 2nd amalgamated with it on 22nd April 1949.
Laid up in the King’s Chapel, Gibraltar, on 18th December 1955.
Amalgamation Parade, April 1949.
Colours 1947
1st Battalion, King’s Own. Presented by
Major-General R M Luckcock CB CMG DSO at Trieste, Italy, on 25th
July 1947. Laid up in the Regimental Chapel on 3rd September 1961.
Presentation of New Colours, July
1947.

Drawing of Banner in Regimental Chapel
Accession Number: KO2914/17
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