Governor General`s Foot Guards King's and Regimental Colours

Erected by the Governor General`s Foot Guards and unveiled on 4 October 1959, this memorial is dedicated to the Governor General`s Foot Guards.

[explanatory note/note explicative]

[on the left/à gauche]

The 1932 replacement King's Colour of the Governor General's Foot Guards
Regiment. This officially was presented on the 24th June 1932 by the Governor General
the Earl of Bessborough and dedicated by the Bishop of Ottawa, the Right Reverend
John Charles Roper. It replaced the original King's Colour. When Colours are
presented to a battalion, they are consecrated and they become sacred items
entrusted to the custody of that battalion. The Governor General's Foot Guards
served in the Second World War (1939-1945) under this King's Colour. In the
Line Infantry, the King's (or Queen`s) Colour is the National Flag (which in the
Canadian Army up to 1965 was the Great Union or "Union Jack" flag and
thereafter the Maple Leaf Flag). In the Governor General's Foot Guards, these flags
respectively served as the Regimental Colour. No consecrated Colour has ever been
carried in battle by a Canadian unit but instead only in ceremonial parades. The
symbols from top to bottom are Crown, Cross in cartouche and a Beaver advancing
on a sprig of maple leaves.

[on the right/à droite]

The original 1932 replacement Regimental Colour of the Governor General' Foot Guards
Regiment. This was officially presented on 24 June 1932 by Governor General Bessborough
to the Foot Guards. This battalion served in the Second World war (1939-1945) under
this Colour. At the end of hostilities, any battle honours awarded to a regiment as a
whole are embroidered on the battalion's Regimental Colour. Battle honours were
acquired under this Colour at Falaise, Falaise Road, The Laison, Chambois, The
Scheldt, The Lower Maas, The Rhineland, The Hochwald, Veen, Bad Zwischenahn
and Northwest Europe in 1944-1945. Thus the Regimental Colours are a memorial
to the brave deeds and sacrifices of the units and individuals who served under them.
This second set of Colours for the Foot Guards was "laid up" in the Cathedral on 4
October 1959. Later Colours of the Governor General's Foot Guards have been
"laid up" at St Bartholomew's near Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General.
The notable symbol at the centre of this Regimental Colour is the lion astride a Crown.

(important note: As written, the explanatory note indicates that the Regimental Colour is on the left while the King's Colour is on the right. However, the description of the Regimental Colour-centre symbol is lion astride a crown-leads one to conclude that the Regimental Colour is actually on the right and the King's Colour on the left. To avoid confusion, the correction has been included in the above "wording")