The Honorary Queen's Colour and a Honorary Regimental Colour were originally awarded to the 76th of Foot (2 DWR), for service in India by the Honorable East India Company, for the part the Regiment played in the capture of the fortress of Ally Ghur and the capture of Delhi in 1803.  At the end of the campaign, at the behest of the East India Company, the Regiment was authorised to wear the word 'Hindoostan' on its Colours and Appointments.

At the same time the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Lake, obtained permission for the Regiment to use the badge of an 'elephant'.  A Howdah was added later.  Note the 'old style' square Colours and the 'frozen in time' list of Battle Honours.  These Colours are copies of the nineteen century issue Colours with a list of Battle Honours correct up to 1881, when the 76th merged with the 33rd Foot.  These Colours are unique to the British Army in that no other Regiment carries more than one stand of Regimental Colours.

THE AWARD OF COLOURS

The award of the Honorary Colours was notified by the Governor General of India by Order in Council dated 1st October 1803.  The following is the relevant extract from the Order:

"In testimony of the peculiar honour acquired by the army under the personal command of His Excellency General Lake, the Governor-General in Council is pleased to order that Honorary Colours, with a device properly suited to commemorate the reduction of the fortress of Ally Ghur on the 4th, and the victory obtained at Delhi on the 11th September, be presented to the Corps of Cavalry and Infantry (European and Native) respectively employed on those occasions; and that a public monument be erected at Fort William to the memory of the brave officers and men (European and Native), who have fallen in the public service during the present campaign."

"The Honorary Colours granted by these orders to His Majesty's 27th Regiment of Dragoons, and to the 76th of Foot, are to be used by those Corps while they shall continue in India, or until His Majesty's most gracious pleasure be signified through His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief."

The Honorary Colours were intended to be in addition to the normal Regulation Colours.

THE COLOURS PRESENTED IN 1808

The statement in "The Historical Record of the 76th Regiment" that the stand of Colours presented in 1808 were the first Honorary Colours is not correct.  To qualify for that description the Colours would have had to have been in addition to the Regulation stand.  However, as they were the only stand carried by the Regiment for the next 22 years they were, defacto, the Regulation Colours.

HONORARY COLOURS OF 1830

These Colours were the first that can be described as Honorary since they were in addition to the Regulation stand.  The East India Company stated that it would not provide new Colours until the King's approval had been obtained.  The fact that the East India Company subsequently gave new Colours to the 76th is circumstantial evidence that the King's approval was obtained.  The existence of the correspondence almost certainly accounted for the relative ease with which approval was obtained to replace the Colours in 1888 and 1906.

HONORARY COLOURS OF 1888

The 2nd stand of Honorary Colours, paid for by the India Office, were issued after the approval of the Commander-in-Chief (Field Marshal H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge) had been obtained.  The approval was given not withstanding the Order issued by King William IV in 1835 that Regiments would not carry three Colours on parade.  That could be because the Honorary Colours were not, at the time of their replacement in 1888, carried on parade.

HONORARY COLOURS OF 1906

The 3rd Honorary stand, given by the India Office, replaced the previous stand which had been destroyed by fire in 1901.  Their issue was approved by the Secretary of State for War, Mr Brodrick. The Colours were formally presented by the 4th Duke of Wellington and consecrated.  All four Colours (Regulation and Honorary) were carried on all public occasions thereafter, particularly on the occasions of the funeral of King Edward VII, the coronation of King George V and the Royal Review by H.M. the Queen on her visit to Gibraltar in 1954.

HONORARY COLOURS OF 1969

No formal approval was sought to replace the 1906 stand.  Informal advice from the Adjutant General was that they should be 'taken into use' and blessed rather than consecrated.  The Colours were trooped.  The cost of the Colours was paid for by the Regiment and used on all public as well as Royal occasions.

HONORARY COLOURS OF 2002

The 5th stand of Honorary Colours was presented on 18th June 2002 as part of the same ceremony for the presentation of new Regulation Colours.  The ceremony was the focal point of the events to mark the Regiment's Tercentenary.  The advice given by the Adjutant General in 1969 that the Honorary Colours should be 'taken into use' and blessed rather than consecrated was followed and the format for the parade was agreed with PS 12(Army).  The Honorary Colours were blessed by the Regimental Chaplain after the Regulation Colours had been consecrated by the Deputy Chaplain General.  Following the formation of The Yorkshire Regiment in 2006 the Honorary Colours are held by the 3rd Battalion.

COST

The costs of replacing and repairing the Honorary Colours are met from the Honorary Colours Fund, a non-public fund, to which all Officers, Warrant Officers, Senior and Junior NCOs of the 3rd Battalion pay a small monthly subscription.