Color Guard
With their exceptional skill, endurance, ability, strength, and balance, the ISU ROTC Color Guard demonstrates their professionalism and military bearing to both Illinois State and our surrounding communities.
The Color Guard Team appears at many events, including:
- National Rifle Association banquet
- Military Ball
- Veteran's Day Ceremony
- Daughters of the American Revolution ceremony
- Various ISU sporting events and parades
The team also travels to St. Louis every year to appear in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
History
In the United States military, the color guard (the word "color" refers to the U.S.A. flag) carries the National Color and other flags appropriate to its position in the chain of command. Typically these include a unit flag and a departmental flag (Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard). In addition to the flag bearers, who are positioned in the center of the color guard, two individuals carry rifles.
Since early history, flags and banners have been used by many armies in battle. They served several purposes: to identify units, to signal other units, and to act as a common point of reference for the movements of the soldiers in the unit, enabling them to keep formation. The flag was also an important symbol of the unit. The loss of a unit's flag was not only shameful, but often losing this central point of reference could make the unit break up totally. To protect the flag, a detachment of soldiers was assigned to guard it.
The color guard renders honors when the national anthem is played or sung, when passing in review during a parade, and in certain other circumstances.