Battle honour: Encyclopedia II - Battle honour - The Origin of Battle Honours

Battle honour - The Origin of Battle Honours

For the British Army, the need to adopt a system to recognize military units' battlefield accomplishments was apparent since its formation in the later part of the 17th century. Although the granting of battle honours had already been in place at the time, it was not until 1784 that infantry units were authorized to bear battle honours on their colours. Before then, a regiment's colours were practical tools for rallying troops in the battle field and not quite something for displaying the unit's past distinctions.

The British Army awarded its first battle honour to the Royal Irish Regiment for the campaigns at Jemappes and Valmy in 1792. During that period, a regiment needed only to engage the enemy with musketry before it was eligible for a battle honour. In other words, as soon as shots were fired in a reasonably large conflict, a unit was pretty much guaranteed a battle honour.

However, the need to develop a centralized system to oversee the selection and granting of battle honours soon arised in the 19th century following the increase of military engagements that British Army units were involved in around the globe. Thus in 1882, a committee was formed to adjudicate applications of battle honour claims. This committee, later called the Battles Nomenclature Committee in the Second World War, still maintains its functions in the British Army nowadays.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Origin of Battle Honours", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki