Editing Colour guard (section)

==History==
[[File:Mazurovsky - Fight for the banner (1805), 1910-12.jpg|thumb|upright|Fight for the flag between French [[line infantry]] and [[Imperial Guard (Russia)|Russian Guard]] [[cuirassier]]s at the [[battle of Austerlitz]] (1805).]]
{{Main|Military colours, standards and guidons}}
As long as armies existed there was a need for soldiers to know where their comrades were. A solution to this problem was the carrying of colourful banners or other insignia. Such flags or banners either showed a personal symbol of the leader of said units or a symbol for the "state" they represented. 

Such banners or flags also came to represent a units identity and history. They were therefore treated with reverence as they represented the honour and traditions of the regiment. The loss of a unit's flag was shameful, and losing that central point of reference could also make the unit break up. Therefore, regiments tended to adopt colour guards, a detachment of experienced or élite soldiers, to protect their colours. As a result, the capture of an enemy's standard was considered as a great feat of arms.

Regimental flags were sometimes awarded to a regiment by a head of state during a ceremony, which was considered a high honour usually reserved for elite units, and colours may be inscribed with [[battle honours]] or other symbols representing former achievements.

Due to the advent of modern weapons, and subsequent changes in tactics, colours are no longer used in battle but continue to be carried by colour guards at events of formal character.