Editing Royal Marines (section)

==Customs==
=== Traditions<span class="anchor" id="Badge"></span> ===
The Royal Marines have a proud history and unique traditions. With the exceptions of "Gibraltar" and the laurel wreath for the Battle of Belle Island, their colours (flags) do not carry [[battle honours]] in the manner of the regiments of the British Army or of the US Marine Corps, but rather the "globe itself" as a symbol of the Corps.<ref name=nato2009>{{cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/nrdc-it/magazine/2009/0914/0914k.pdf|title=The Royal Marines|publisher=NATO|access-date=17 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222113500/http://www.nato.int/nrdc-it/magazine/2009/0914/0914k.pdf|archive-date=22 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[heraldic badge]] of the Royal Marines commemorates the history of the Corps. The Lion and Crown denotes a Royal regiment. King [[George III]] conferred this honour in 1802 "in consideration of the very meritorious services of the Marines in the late war." The "Great Globe itself" was chosen in 1827 by King [[George IV]] in place of battle honours to recognise the Marines' service and successes in multiple engagements in every quarter of the world.<ref name=crest/> The [[Laurel wreath|laurels]] are believed to honour the gallantry they displayed during the investment and capture of [[Capture of Belle Île|Belle Isle]], off [[Lorient]], in April–June 1761. The word ''[[Gibraltar]]'' refers to the [[Capture of Gibraltar]] by a force of Anglo-Dutch Marines in 1704 and the subsequent defence of the strategic fortress throughout a nine-month [[Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar|siege]] against a numerically superior Franco-Spanish force.<ref name=crest/> Their determination and valour throughout the siege led to a contemporary report published in ''The Triumphs of Her Majesty's Arms'' in 1707 to announce:

{{Blockquote|Encouraged by the Prince of Hesse, the garrison did more than could humanly be expected, and the English Marines gained an immortal glory|referred to by Paul Harris Nicolas|Historical Record of the Royal Marine Forces<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/~/media/Files/Navy-PDFs/The-Fleet/RMBS/Corps%20memorial%20Dates.pdf|title=The Capture of Gibraltar – 24 July 1704|publisher=Royal Navy|access-date=17 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112617/http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/~/media/Files/Navy-PDFs/The-Fleet/RMBS/Corps%20memorial%20Dates.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

There are no other battle honours displayed on the [[colours, standards and guidons|colours]] of the four battalion-sized units of the current Corps. The Latin motto "Per Mare Per Terram" translates into English as "By Sea By Land". Believed to have been first used in 1775, this motto describes the Royal Marines ability in fighting both afloat on-board ships of the Royal Navy as well as ashore in their many land engagements. The fouled anchor, incorporated into the emblem in 1747, is the badge of the [[Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom|Lord High Admiral]], and shows that the Corps is part of the [[Naval Service (United Kingdom)|Naval Service]].<ref name=nato2009/>

The regimental quick march of the Corps is "[[A Life on the Ocean Wave]]", while the slow march is the [[march of the Preobrazhensky Regiment]], awarded to the Corps by Admiral of the Fleet [[Earl Mountbatten]] of Burma on the occasion of the Corps's tercentenary in 1964. Lord Mountbatten was Life Colonel Commandant of the Royal Marines until his murder by the IRA in 1979.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nmrn.org.uk/news-events/nmrn-blog/sword-presentation-royal-marine-corps-royal-marines-museum|title=Sword presentation Royal Marine Corps at the Royal Marines Museum|access-date=17 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222163838/http://www.nmrn.org.uk/news-events/nmrn-blog/sword-presentation-royal-marine-corps-royal-marines-museum|archive-date=22 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Royal Marines are allowed by the [[Lord Mayor of the City of London]] to march through the [[City of London|City]] as a regiment in full array. This dates to the charter of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] that allowed recruiting parties of the Admiral's Regiment of 1664 to enter the city with drums beating and colours flying.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.terryaspinall.com/marines/1600.html|title=Royal Marines|access-date=17 December 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222135301/http://www.terryaspinall.com/marines/1600.html|archive-date=22 December 2015}}</ref>
[[File:Lord_Mayor%27s_Show,_London_2006_(295199765).jpg|thumb|The dark blue Number 1A uniform worn with pith helmets]]

===Uniforms===
Modern Royal Marines uniforms are broadly similar to British Army uniforms but include a number of distinctive uniform items. These include the green "Lovat" shade of service dress uniform; the [[green beret]] (for those who have passed the commando course) or navy blue beret with a scarlet patch behind the badge (for those who have not); dark blue parade dress worn with either the white Wolseley Pattern Helmet (commonly referred to as "[[pith helmet]]") or white and red peaked cap; the scarlet and blue [[Mess dress uniform|mess dress]] for officers and senior non-commissioned officers; and the white hot-weather uniform of the Band Service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30091470|title=Helmet, Wolseley pattern (Tropical) S/P 1912 Royal Marines|publisher=Imperial War Museum|access-date=17 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222145034/http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30091470|archive-date=22 December 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

For historical information regarding Marine uniforms, see ''[[Uniforms of the Royal Marines]]''.