Battle honour


A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags, uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible.
In European military tradition, military units may be acknowledged for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign. In Great Britain and those countries of the Commonwealth which share a common military legacy with the British, battle honours are awarded to selected military units as official acknowledgement for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign. These honours usually take the form of a place and a date.
Theatre honours, a type of recognition in the British tradition closely allied to battle honours, were introduced to honour units which provided sterling service in a campaign but were not part of specific battles for which separate battle honours were awarded. Theatre honours could be listed and displayed on regimental property but not emblazoned on the colours.
Since battle honours are primarily emblazoned on colours, artillery units, which do not have colours in the British military tradition, were awarded honour titles instead. These honour titles were permitted to be used as part of their official nomenclature, for example 13 Field Regiment .
Similar honours in the same tenor include unit citations.
Battle honours, theatre honours, honour titles and their ilk form a part of the wider variety of distinctions which serve to distinguish military units from each other.

In the British military tradition

Origins

For the British Army, the need to adopt a system to recognise military units' battlefield accomplishments was apparent since its formation as a standing army in the later part of the 17th century. Although the granting of battle honours had already been in place at the time, it was not until 1784 that infantry units were authorised to bear battle honours on their colours. Before then, a regiment's colours were practical tools for rallying troops in the battlefield and not quite something for displaying the unit's past distinctions.
The first battle honour to be awarded in the British Army was granted to the 15th Hussars for the Battle of Emsdorf in 1760. Thereafter, other regiments received battle honours for some of their previous engagements.
The earliest battle honour in the British Army is Tangier 1662–80, granted to the Tangier Horse, the oldest line cavalry regiment of the British army, who in 1969 amalgamated with the Royal Horse Guards to become The Blues and Royals. Also awarded the honour was the 2nd Regiment of Foot, or the Tangier Regiment now The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, the senior English regiment in the Union, for their protracted 23-year defence of the Colony of Tangier. The battle honour is still held by the successor regiment, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. During these early years of the British standing army, a regiment needed only to engage the enemy with musketry before it was eligible for a battle honour. However, older battle honours are carried on the standards of the Yeomen of the Guard and the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, neither of which are part of the army, but are instead the Sovereign's Bodyguard, in the personal service of the sovereign.
The need to develop a centralised system to oversee the selection and granting of battle honours arose in the 19th century following the increase of British military engagements during the expansion of the Empire. Thus in 1882, a committee was formed to adjudicate applications of battle honour claims. This committee, later called the Battles Nomenclature Committee, still maintains its function in the British Army today.

Entitlement

A battle honour may be granted to infantry/cavalry regiments or battalions, as well as ships and squadrons; they are rarely granted to sub-units such as companies, platoons and sections in the army. Battle honours are usually presented in the form of a name of a country, region, or city where the unit's distinguished act took place, usually together with the year when it occurred.
Not every battle fought will automatically result in the granting of a battle honour. Conversely, a regiment or a battalion might obtain more than one battle honour over the course of a larger operation. For example, the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards were awarded two battle honours for their role in the Falklands War; "Tumbledown Mountain" specifically for the Battle of Mount Tumbledown, and "Falkland Islands 1982" for the overall conflict. Similarly, while in Korea, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry earned both "Kapyong" and "Korea 1951–1953". Victory is not required to earn a battle honour: the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps received the battle honour "Hong Kong" despite the defeat and capture of most of the force during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, while the cruiser was awarded the [|naval engagement honour] "Kormoran 1941" after being sunk with all aboard by the German raider Kormoran.
Supporting corps/branches such as medical, service, ordnance, or transport do not currently receive battle honours. However, and uniquely the Royal Logistic Corps has five battle honours inherited from its previous transport elements, such as the Royal Waggon Train. Commonwealth artillery does not maintain battle honours as they carry neither colours nor guidons—though their guns by tradition are afforded many of the same respects and courtesies. However, both the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers were in 1832 granted by King William IV the right to use the Latin "Ubique", meaning everywhere, as a battle honour. This is worn on the cap badge of both the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Likewise the Royal Marines, although a colours-carrying service, was granted, along with the conventional battle honour of "Gibraltar", the "Great Globe itself" by King George IV for its very numerous battle honours around the world.
The practice was later extended to these same regiments and corps in the successor Commonwealth armed forces.

Battle honours for the Second World War

The Battles Nomenclature Committee advised operational Army Headquarters on the granting of battle honours. At the end of the war, the army received a report from the committee containing:
  • The definitions of war theatre, battle, action and engagement
  • A detailed list of all theatres, battles, actions and engagements throughout the entire war for which regiments could be granted battle honours
The army ordered regiments to form honours committees comprising at least five regimental officers, including past and present commanding officers, and the honorary colonel and lieutenant colonel. The regimental committee reviewed the report to determine which battle honours were claimable based on the unit's wartime service. The regiment submitted an application of claims to the army with evidence showing that the unit was worthy of the battle honours. Claims could also be made for actions not listed in the report. In Britain, public announcements followed the final approval of claims. The ceremonial granting of new battle honours would be made in the form of the presentation of new Regimental and Sovereign's Colours to the regiment by the British monarch or an agent of the Crown, such as the Governor General of a commonwealth dominion.

Display

In British and Commonwealth armies a unit's battle honours can normally be found engraved, painted or embroidered on:
As there is no order of precedence for battle honours, they are listed in chronological order, either in a single list, or in multiple even numbers of columns, reading left to right, and top to bottom. On drums, the honours are listed on scrolls, usually with the cap badge central, and other unit devices present.
The honours for the First and Second World Wars were restricted in that only a certain number of honours could be selected for emblazonment, that is appear on colours or drums. This was due to the large number of battle honours awarded. It is often the case that battle honours not carried on the colours will be emblazoned on the drum major's baldric.

Significance

While regimental colours and guidons are no longer carried on operations by British and Commonwealth military, as was their initial military function, the battle honours they carry are held in high esteem by military personnel. Regiments take pride in their battle honours, and the winning of further battle honours, as these are seen to enhance a unit's reputation.
It remains a tradition that whenever military personnel meet a colour or guidon, it must be saluted. This is not only because it is an object which represents the authority of the Crown, but also because the colours contain a regiment's battle honours, and thus represent the regiment's history and its deeds. Saluting a colour or guidon is thus a pivotal act in retaining an awareness of regimental history and traditions—key in the functioning of the regimental system. It remains common for army instructors to ensure that their recruits have memorised and are able to recite all of their regiment's battle honours. Such methods are meant to bring the new soldier into the regimental ethos and sub-culture by means of imprinting shared history.
In some cases where a battle honour was not granted, a special distinction has been substituted. For example, soldiers of The Rifles wear a cap badge on both the front and the rear of their hats. This so-called "back badge" is unique in the British Army and was awarded to the 28th Regiment of Foot for their actions at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. Knowledge of that battle honour, represented by the back badge, is said to have encouraged the soldiers of the Gloucestershire Regiment in the defence of Gloster Hill during the Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951 during the Korean War.
Other uniform distinctions include:
  • Oakleaf Shoulder Badge, The Canadian Scottish Regiment, awarded for "Kitcheners' Wood" in April 1915. No battle honour had been granted and the units petitioned for a special badge.
  • Sphinx: Several British regiments have a sphinx on their regimental colour as well as cap badges and belt buckles to commemorate service in Egypt, specifically the Battle of Alexandria in 1801.
  • Eagle: The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards have an eagle on their cap badge to commemorate the capture of a French Imperial Eagle at Waterloo by the Royal Scots Greys. The Blues and Royals similarly wear an eagle as a shoulder badge commemorating the Eagle captured at Waterloo by the Royal Dragoons.