Enjoying their 375th anniversary, the Coldstream Guards Trooped Their Colour with more pride than most on June 14th 2025. The combat infantry soldiers were determined to make this year’s King’s Birthday Parade worthy of their unique and glorious history, and a fitting tribute to more than three and half centuries of unbroken loyalty to the Crown.
Members of the Household Division make their way down the Mall on route to Horse Guards Parade in London.
The King's Birthday Parade (also known as Trooping the Colour) is a military parade which has long been used to mark the official birthday of the British Sovereign.
His Majesty The King salutes the Household Division as they pass Buckingham Palace.
Number 7 Company troop their colour (flag) past His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen at Horse Guards Parade in London.
The King’s Birthday Parade is the Household Division’s special opportunity to wish His Majesty a Happy Birthday and illustrates all that is important about soldiering: discipline, detail, teamwork, commitment and endurance.
Because there would be, arguably, no such thing as The King’s Birthday Parade, and no Monarchy, without the efforts of their forebears in 1660 who rescued the nation from the political anarchy that followed the death of Oliver Cromwell, and enabling King Charles II to return to the throne.
The Garter Star
The Coldstream Guards are the only Parliamentarian force to survive the Restoration when all other Parliamentarian regiments were disbanded. Their commander, George Monck was made a Knight of the Garter by King Charles II for restoring the Monarchy and maintaining the peace. The Regiment has borne the eight-pointed Garter Star as their cap star ever since.
On The Birthday Parade of King Charles III, the Garter Star, that sacred medieval symbol of unquestionable loyalty, held centre stage, emblazoned on the Colour (ceremonial consecrated flag). It was the first official outing for the Colour of Number 7 Company Coldstream Guards. It had been presented to the regiment by His Majesty The King fewer than 24 hrs before, at a sacred ceremony in Windsor Castle.
The King’s Colour emphasises and symbolises everything that has ever gone before in the Coldstream Guards. The gold embroidered silk of the flag is physically heavy, especially in the flourish, but the symbolic weight is heavier still
Royal Procession
After the Foot Guards, the Massed Bands of the Household Division, and The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery had assembled on Horse Guards Parade, the Royal Procession set off from Buckingham Palace accompanied by the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and the magnificent sounds of the Band of the Household Cavalry, led by two Shire Drum Horses bearing priceless solid silver kettle drums.
On arrival at Horse Guards Parade, The King, accompanied by the Colonels of the Regiments, inspected His troops. The Coldstream Guards were supported by soldiers from the Grenadier Guards, the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards, the Welsh Guards and the London Guards Reserve.
Once the scene was set, the heavy silken King’s Colour was dramatically uncased for all to see. The eight-pointed Garter Star at its heart, in richly embroidered solid silver thread, flashed as it unfurled.
Lieutenant Max Martin, 24, carried the Colour. He said: “The King’s Colour emphasises and symbolises everything that has ever gone before in the Coldstream Guards. The gold embroidered silk of the flag is physically heavy, especially in the flourish, but the symbolic weight is heavier still. It bears 44 of our 113 battle honours: the achievements and sacrifices of countless generations of our forebears. To carry that weight is the privilege of my life, and I will try my utmost to do justice to that great honour.”
Happy birthday Your Majesty from everyone!
The King’s Birthday Parade is the Household Division’s special opportunity to wish His Majesty a happy birthday and illustrates all that is important about soldiering: discipline, detail, teamwork, commitment and endurance. It is one of the most popular and well-known parades in the world.
Members of the Royal Family watched from the upstairs window of the Major General’s Office in Horse Guards and tens of thousands of members of the public and VIPs watched from the stands around the Parade. The parks and The Mall in central London were thronged with thousands of people trying to get a glimpse of the spectacle. Millions more watched globally on TV or online.
Among the spectators at Horse Guards this year were Defence Chiefs from the Joint Expeditionary Force nations, who were in London to advance security initiatives designed to strengthen defence and deterrence in northern Europe and the High North - including support for Ukraine and the protection of critical national infrastructure. The UK-led coalition brings together military forces for exercises and operations that protect regional stability and prosperity and includes the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.
When Oliver Cromwell ordered the execution of King Charles I, he could never have imagined that the soldiers he’d raise in 1650 to quell Scottish rebellion, would put King Charles II back on the throne and 375 years later be leading the Nation and modern Commonwealth in celebrating King Charles III’s Official Birthday.
The dour Parliamentarian might have been comforted to know that his soldiers’ martial might had succeeded in preserving a stable nation for centuries. But thanks to their dual role as The King’s Household Troops, their ceremonial soft power equally provides the opportunity for diplomacy and defence engagement to take place at scale.
It’s a winning combination at a vital time for global security.
No other Regiment can claim 375 years of continuous service and few others can claim such a rich history – from the pivotal role it played in the restoration of the Monarchy, to its heroics at Hougoument Farm at Waterloo in 1815, and more recently its service in Iraq and Afghanistan
Everyone on parade
More than 1000 soldiers and 200 horses from the Household Division carried out complex battlefield drill manoeuvres to a spectacular programme of music, specially composed and arranged to complement the Coldstream Guards. Every soldier knew this occasion wasn’t just about smart uniform, or immaculate drill—it was about honouring the legacy of all those soldiers who had served and sacrificed before them and demonstrating the discipline and rigorous resilience of the fighting force that protects the nation today.
A rich history of continuous service
The Coldstream Guards has served in almost every major conflict since its formation and carries a formidable reputation. Thirteen Coldstreamers have been awarded the Victoria Cross and one the George Cross.
Colonel Jeremy Bagshaw, Regimental Adjutant Coldstream Guards, who rode in the Royal Procession said: “No other Regiment can claim 375 years of continuous service and few others can claim such a rich history – from the pivotal role it played in the restoration of the Monarchy, to its heroics at Hougoument Farm at Waterloo in 1815, and more recently its service in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no better symbol of that service and sacrifice than our Colours, and to be part of a parade in which they are trooped before the Sovereign, is always a special moment, but even more so, in this special year”.
March past and Gun salute
At the end of the parade, the troops escorted The King and Members of the Royal Family back to Buckingham Palace in a Royal Procession, to cheers from the flag waving crowds. Once there, they then carried out a final march past His Majesty The King who stood on a dais at the gates of the Palace.
The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery then fired a 41 Gun Salute in The Green Park in honour of His birthday, while another salute was fired at the same time from HM Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company, the City of London’s Army Reserve.
The Coldstream Guards protect the nation
British Army service never ceases. Over the last 12 months, Coldstreamers have deployed across the world, including to Kenya, Cyprus, Uganda, Germany, Brunei, Albania, Holland, Poland, North Macedonia and the USA. Exercises in the wider Middle East, and short-term training teams to West Africa and Jamaica have helped hone the skills of those deploying, while also building relations with partner forces. They have deployed soldiers to the Middle East on Operation SHADER, which is the UK’s contribution to the counter-Daesh coalition. Closer to home the Battalion has assisted in the training of hundreds of Ukrainians on Operation INTERFLEX.
After the Troop, the 1st Battalion deployed immediately to Castlemartin to complete its training for duties later this year on Operation TOSCA as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.
Putting the environment first on our national day
As The King and Royal Family went into Buckingham Palace, the military street liners were withdrawn, and the crowds that had been watching from the parks surged forward. The Mall filled with thousands of eager faces all turned towards the Palace.
They had one goal: to get as close as they could to witness Members of the Royal Family on the Palace Balcony watching the impressive flypast of military aircraft. The cheers went up as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows, streaked across the sky trailing red, white and blue smoke. This year marked their first public display powered by a combination of more environmentally friendly fuels. It is thought to be the first time anywhere in the world that a national aerobatic squadron has switched to both a SAF blend for propulsion and a renewable biofuel to produce its distinctive trademark vapour trails.
The military ceremonial celebrations that take place around The King’s Official Birthday are at the heart of our nation and are watched across the globe as an icon of what it means to be British. It is often said that the King’s Birthday Parade – Trooping The Colour - is the closest the UK has to a national day.
Irish Guards celebrate St Patrick’s Day with The Princess of Wales and Ukrainian recruits
