Like many Canadian military traditions, the system of Battle Honours originated with the British Army. The first Battle Honour was awarded by the British in 1695 - simply put a Battle Honour is a commemoration of a battle or campaign associated with a specific regiment of infantry or cavalry (and later armour). The honour takes the form of a battle title, sometimes distinguished further by a date, and granted at the conclusion of hostilities by a special committee.
There have been many guidelines over the years applied to the granting of Battle Honours, many of which have been not rigidly adhered to over the years.
The Battle Honours Committees that have sat after the First World War, Second World War and the Korean War have determined the Honours to be granted; the process is not a fast one and is the result of much research. Once granted, regiments may in turn determine which of the Battle Honours are to be "emblazoned". This refers to the act of having the names of the Battle Honours added to the Regimental Colour (or Guidon, in the case of cavalry and armoured regiments, or cap badge, in the case of rifle regiments), as well as other regimental accoutrements such as drum shells and the Drum Major's cross belt.
The number of Battle Honours granted to Canadian regiments have led to restrictions being placed on the number of "emblazoned" honours permitted. These are:
Battle Honours won by a regiment were carried by the regiment as a whole, without regard to the battalion involved. For example, the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry earned the Battle Honour KAPYONG in 1951, but the honour was granted to the regiment and appears on the Colours of all three battalions.
In those rare cases of Reserve regiments carrying a battalion designation for a regular regiment as a secondary title, such as The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry), the reserve units were not entitled to the honours of the regular unit and displayed only their own Battle Honours.
When two regiments amalgamated, the new unit was entitled to the Honours of both predecessors.
When the Canadian Expeditionary Force was disbanded at the end of the First World War, Canada's ground forces as a whole were reorganized, new regiments were created while old ones were renamed and reorganized as part of the Otter Committee's recommendations, and these regiments were permitted to inherit the Battle Honours and traditions of the CEF battalions that had fought in France and Flanders. It is interesting to note that the CEF battalions were granted battle honours seperate from their perpetuating regiments. When the 10th Battalion, CEF received their Battle Honours on 15 October 1929 (by General Order 123), one of their perpetuating units, The Calgary Highlanders, had already received their Battle Honours a month before by General Order 110 on 15 September. Oddly, the Tenth were granted ARRAS, 1917 while the Highlanders received ARRAS 1917, '18.
Battle Honours for the Second World War were not granted until well after the Korean War, at the end of the 1950s.
Battle Honours are displayed in the official language used by the regiment in question. In Infantry Regiments, the honours are embroidered on the Regimental Colour. Cavalry/Armoured Regiments had a Regimental Guidon (though the decision to have all such regiments entitled to a Guidon was only made in 1956, it being felt earlier that 'light' cavalry units would have no need for a colour flag given their battlefield role of reconnaissance.) The honours may also have appeared on the regimental drums and the Drum Major's sash.
When listed in a book or other written reference, emblazoned honours were usually distinguished by being in all-capitals, and non-emblazoned honours in upper and lower case, though if presented individually or referred to in a sentence rather than a list, all-capitalization did not necessarily mean it was an emblazoned honour.
On Colours, the emblazoned honours (only) were placed on scrolls in two columns in order of precedence, being descending chronological order. On the Colour they were listed starting from the top left and alternating left and right reading down. Regiments requiring it were permitted to display their Battle Honours in four columns rather than two.
At right, an example of a Regimental Colour, showing how the emblazoned Battle Honours were arranged. Chronologically, YPRES 1915-17 was be first, then ST. JULIEN, FESTUBERT 1915, MOUNT SORREL, etc.
Snare drum shell of the Royal Montreal Regiment - note that all Battle Honours, not just emblazoned ones, are on the drum.
On bass drum shells, the honours are displayed beneath other markings (usually the regimental badge), and on side drums, tenor drums, and kettle drum banners, the honours are displayed on scrolls on either side of any regimental markings.
Throughout the 20th Century, there has been some controversy around the researching and granting of Battle Honours to the Canadian Army and some Battle Honours were granted well after the committees finished their work.
The oak leaf Shoulder Badge of the Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's), Calgary Highlanders and Winnipeg Light Infantry. This was granted in lieu of a Battle Honour for Kitcheners' Wood, which the regiments involved felt was warranted but was not granted.
Lincoln and Welland Regiment
In the 1990s, a staff officer at the Directorate of History and Heritage discovered that the Lincoln and Welland Regiment was entitled to two previously overlooked Battle Honours because no one had noticed the official list had been printed on both sides of the same piece of paper. The honours KUSTEN CANAL and BAD ZWISCHENAHN (the last two, chronologically, and typed on the reverse side of the official list) had been granted in 1951 but not recognized due to this oversight until 1995. The Canadian Scottish were also granted WAGENBORGEN in the 1990s.
The Princess Louise Fusiliers were granted the honour ARNHEM 1945 in 1999 after research by Captain Sanchez King was able to demonstrate the regiment's entitlement to this honour.
Northwest Rebellion, South Africa
When the Honours Committee was distributing First World War Battle Honours, some regiments submitted the idea that their contributions to the field forces in 1885 and the Boer War had not been properly recognized. The 1st Hussars, for example, received the Battle Honour SOUTH AFRICA 1900 by General Order 60/1933 to reflect this earlier oversight.
On 15 August 2012, it was announced that the Militia units that fought at Detroit during the War of 1812 would be retroactively rewarded for their service in that conflict by the grant of the honour DETROIT to perpetuating regiments, as part of the bicentennial commemorations of that conflict.1 The units to receive the honour, announced on 15 August 2012, are:
A list of authorized battle honours was published in 1999 by the Department of National Defence in the publication The Honours, Flags and Heritage Structure of the Canadian Forces. The list includes honours granted the Royal Newfoundland Regiment before Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949. Additional research and information was provided by Brent Trenholm.
MOTTO (Honorary Distinction)
UBIQUE ["everywhere"] – Awarded in lieu of all individual battle honours to The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery and the Canadian Military Engineers.
War of 1812-1814
Fenian Raids, 1866-1870
North West Rebellion, 1885
South African War, 1899-1902
The First World War, 1914-1919
Honorary Distinctions: 10th and 16th Canadian Infantry Battalions (Canadian Expeditionary Force) – oak leaf Shoulder Badges commemorating action in Kitchener's Wood April 1915. The Calgary Highlanders and The Winnipeg Light Infantry (absorbed by the Royal Winnipeg Rifles in 1955) perpetuated the 10th Battalion and The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) perpetuated the 16th Battalion. After absorbing the WLI, The Royal Winnipeg Rifles chose not to wear the distinction.
The Second World War, 1939-1945
The Korean War
Battle Honours for the Korean War have also been a subject of some controversy, in that very few honours were awarded. Canadian Army Orders published in 1958 under the authority of the Adjutant General outlined that the "general principles and qualifying rules" for the grant of Battle Honours for the Second World War would also be followed for Korean War awards, with several modifications:
Only four regiments were eligible:
It was felt by some that the system for awarding Battle Honours in the Second World War (specifically, a requirement that the majority of a unit had to be involved in the engagement) did not adequately reflect combat conditions in Korea.
In the event, the only Battle Honour awarded all four regiments was Korea 1951-1953. One additional Battle Honour was awarded, that of Kapyong to Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
No further battle honours were awarded for actions occurring during the 20th Century. The next bestowal of battle honours occurred after the War in Afghanistan (2001-2014).