The Regimental Colours of the 48th Highlanders of Canada
The Regiment’s Honour in Silk and Embroidery
For the 48th Highlanders of Canada, the Regimental Colours are not decorations or “old flags.” They are the visible symbol of the Regiment’s honour, its history, and its loyalty to Crown and country.
Every Highlander who has marched behind them knows: the Colours represent the Regiment itself. That’s why they are treated with such ceremony, such care, and, historically, such determination to defend them at any cost.
A Stand of Colours – An Infantry Tradition
In the Canadian Army, infantry units (and only infantry units) are traditionally presented with a Stand of Colours, made up of two flags:
King’s/Queen’s Colour (Sovereign’s Colour)
This Colour represents the monarch and the nation. It bears the sovereign’s crown and the regiment’s numeral or designation in the centre. Since 1985, the Sovereign’s Colour has been based on the Canadian flag and incorporates the St. Edward’s Crown and the Royal Cypher.Regimental Colour
This Colour bears the Regiment’s crest and is inscribed with the names of battles in which the unit has distinguished itself, known as battle honours.
Click HERE to see a list of the battle honours awarded to the 48th Highlanders. For most of them, a brief summary of the battle is available.
Colours are sacred to current and former members of the Regiment. They are presented in a special ceremony by a member of the Royal Family or a senior representative of the Crown, and from that moment on they are treated as the Regiment’s most prized emblem.
Why Were Colours Carried into Battle?
The tradition comes from the British Army of the 17th–19th centuries, and the 48th Highlanders inherit that tradition as a Canadian Highland regiment.
On a battlefield filled with smoke, noise, confusion, and no radios, soldiers needed a clear, visible point to:
know where their own battalion was,
reform if the line broke, and
rally when ordered to advance or retire.
The Colours – large, brightly coloured flags – did exactly that. When you saw your Colours, you knew where your battalion was supposed to be. When you couldn’t see them, you had a problem.
Because they were so important for control, morale, and identity, the Colours became the heart of the unit in battle. To lose them to the enemy was more than a tactical setback; it was a disgrace. Capturing an enemy’s Colours was a major prize, proof that you had broken his line and shattered his formation. Regiments recorded such captures and losses in their histories, with pride on one side and deep shame on the other.
That is why officers and sergeants were expected, quite literally, to die rather than allow the Colours to fall into enemy hands.
Why Are Colour Parties Armed?
Because Colours were such valuable targets, they were never carried alone. The officers or ensigns who bore them were surrounded by a Colour Party – picked, experienced soldiers whose job was to protect the Colours at all costs.
They were armed for a reason:
The enemy would deliberately try to shoot down or seize the Colours.
The Colour Party had to stand and fight to keep them safe.
If the Colour-bearer fell, another soldier was expected to grab the staff and keep it aloft.
Even today, when Colours are no longer taken into battle, this tradition is preserved on parade. The Colour Party is still armed – with rifles and bayonets or with swords, depending on the drill – as a reminder that the Colours are battle standards, not stage props. Their escort symbolizes the Regiment’s ongoing duty to defend its honour.
The Four Stands of Colours of the 48th Highlanders
Over its history, the 48th Highlanders of Canada has received four stands of Colours:
Stand 1 – The First Colours
The earliest stand, carried in the Regiment’s formative years and through the First World War. These Colours have been retired and are now preserved in the 48th Highlanders Museum, where visitors can see the original battle honours that mark the Regiment’s early service.Stands 2 and 3 – Retired but Still on Watch
The second and third stands followed the Regiment through the interwar years, the Second World War, and the long Cold War and peacekeeping era. These stands have been laid up in St Andrew’s Church, the regimental church of the 48th Highlanders, where they hang in the chancel as silent witnesses to more than a century of service.Stand 4 – The Living Colours
The fourth stand is the current, active stand of Colours. These are the Colours carried on ceremonial parades by the serving battalion. They remain in daily regimental use and have not yet been laid up, because the story they carry is still being written.
“Laying Up” the Colours
When a stand of Colours becomes too worn for parade, or when it is replaced by a new stand, it is never discarded. Instead, the Regiment formally lays up the Colours in a place of honour – usually a church, chapel, or other significant building closely tied to its history.
For the 48th Highlanders, that place is St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Toronto. There, the Regiment conducts a ceremonial service in which:
The old Colours are paraded one final time with the battalion.
They are brought into the church by the Colour Party.
The Commanding Officer and Chaplain commit them to the care of the church as a lasting memorial to the Regiment’s service and sacrifice.
The Colours are placed high in the chancel, where they remain on watch over the congregation.
Once laid up, Colours are never again carried on parade. They are left to age naturally – the fading silk and frayed embroidery becoming a visible reminder that these Colours “grew old” in service, just as the Highlanders who marched behind them did.
A Living Link Between Generations
Today, the 48th Highlanders’ Colours link past, present, and future:
Laid-up Colours in St Andrew’s and in the museum recall the battles, tours, and generations of Highlanders who have gone before.
The current stand on parade represents the serving battalion and the Regiment’s ongoing duty.
The Colour Party, still armed, stands as a reminder that the honour those Colours represent is something to be guarded, not taken for granted.
To understand the Colours is to understand what the Regiment values most: loyalty, service, sacrifice, and the determination to remain, in every generation, Dileas gu bràth – Faithful forever.