A recent post of the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard on Instagram showed something few may have seen before, and I received a question about it. The photo showed only the mounted color bearers carrying the national and the Marine Corps colors without guards.
The question was, “Is this OK?”
Yes, it is.
However, we need to understand why it is OK.
The History
The Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard was formed aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) Barstow in 1967 and designated an official Mounted Color Guard by Headquarters Marine Corps in 1968. This is the only remaining Mounted Color Guard in the Marine Corps today. The Bureau of Land Management honored this unit by portraying it on the first edition of the BLM’s “Wild Horse” trading cards.
This elite military unit has performed throughout the Western United States, traveling as far as Memphis, Tenn. The Mounted Color Guard has received numerous national awards including Overall High Point Champion and Class Champion from the California National Association of Paraders from 1980 to 1985, 1989 and 1991 to 1997, and Overall Outstanding Equestrian Group from 1987 to 1989. The Mounted Color Guard no longer competes due to military regulations.
In January 1985, the Mounted Color Guard made its first appearance in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Since January 1990, the Mounted Color Guard has consistently participated in the Tournament of Roses Parade. The unit has been given the extreme honor of being the first military unit to lead the parade in 1990, 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2002. The Mounted Color Guard has also participated in events such as the Fiesta Bowl, Super Bowl Parades and Military Finals Rodeos. This unit is active with public schools and participates with the DARE Program and Good Citizenship Programs.
Horses in the unit are wild mustangs of Palomino color adopted from the Bureau of Land Management’s Adopt a Horse and Burro Program. The mounts are gentled and trained by the Marines.
The Mounted Color Guard members are active-duty Marines who volunteer their time-evenings, weekends and holidays-and perform these duties in addition to their regular duties. This unit travels all over the Western United States participating in parades, rodeos, and many other numerous events and ceremonies.
Source: www.mclbbarstow.marines.mil
When Guards are Present, Why Swords?
Mounted color guards for the Army and Marine Corps are not color guards, they are adaptations of the unmounted color guard system; they are Mounted Color Guards.
That adaptation requires some careful thought.
- Bearers must be mounted before taking control of the colors. That’s entirely different from the color guard taking the colors from the commander’s office. That really doesn’t happen anymore, but the team cannot retrieve the colors.
- The guards must retrieve the colors, then hand them off in a procedure to the bearers, and then mount their rides.
- Flagstaffs cannot be carried in a harness worn by the bearer, it would look strange, but the safety of the rider and possibly the horse would be in question because the rider must keep at least one hand on the reins.
- The solution is a socket mounted on the right stirrup.
- Rifles, while traditional, would have to remain in the case attached to the saddle since they are long, awkward in weight distribution when held with one hand, and two hands are required for Present.
- The sword is the answer. It only requires one hand to manipulate, and is easily recognized by the audience.
Just a Color Guard on Top of Horses?
The Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard is an official Marine Corps ceremonial team. It’s formation is even mentioned in MCO 5060.20, authorizing the guards to carry the enlisted sword. For more on that subject, read The Mounted Color Guard*. It is not just a group of Marines who decided to carry the colors on horseback. This team has a history, an official function, and an established way of receiving, presenting, and transferring the colors**.
*https://thedrillmaster.org/2020/11/10/the-mounted-color-guard/
** https://www.lulu.com/shop/john-marshall-and-devaughn-simper/mounted-color-guard-protocols-for-civilian-organizations/ebook/product-qjd487.html
That does not mean we take the standard dismounted color guard formation from the Marine Corps drill manual and simply place it on horses. That is where the misunderstanding begins.
A standard dismounted color guard, as described in MCO 5060.20, normally consists of two color bearers and two guards. The guards are armed and positioned on the outside of the formation. That is the formation most of us recognize when we think of a Marine Corps color guard.
The Mounted Team is Different
It is an official Marine Corps ceremonial element, but it is not a standard manual-defined dismounted color guard. It is a mounted ceremonial presentation of the colors. That distinction matters.
Horses change the situation. The equipment changes. The movement changes. The safety considerations change. The historical practice changes. We cannot simply look at the mounted team and say, “The manual shows two guards on the outside, so where are they?”
That applies the right standard to the wrong ceremonial context.
There is also no indication that the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard has a history of using a “full” four-man team (the same for Cavalry units in the Army) in the same way we see a dismounted team. The established mounted practice is the color bearers presenting the National Color and Marine Corps Color on horseback. Since this is an official Marine Corps team operating within its own ceremonial function, that presentation is proper.
Now, this does not mean everyone else gets to do the same thing.
A fire department, police department, veterans organization, school, cadet program, or community color guard cannot look at the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard and say, “They only used two people, so we can too.” That is not how standards work.
The Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard is a specialized official team. Its mounted presentation exists within that context. A local dismounted color guard does not inherit that practice just because it saw a picture online (although that is precisely what happens daily).
That is why wording matters. I would not say the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard is “not a true color guard.” That can sound as if the team is somehow illegitimate, and that is not the case at all. It is official. The better way to say it is this:
The Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard is not a standard manual-defined dismounted color guard.
That is the whole point. It is official. It is proper. It is also specialized and there is no requirement for guards at all. For consistency’s sake, the national and Marine Corps colors are presented together and always should be as that represents the authority of the team.
When we evaluate ceremony, we have to apply the correct standard to the correct situation. The dismounted color guard formation in the manual is not automatically the standard for every possible presentation of the colors. In this case, the mounted Marine Corps team is operating in a different ceremonial category.
So, yes, the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard presenting only the national and Marine Corps colors with mounted color bearers is acceptable. It is not missing guards in the way a standard dismounted color guard would be missing guards. It is performing as a mounted ceremonial element with its own established practice.
Context matters. Without it, we end up correcting something that was never wrong.