What Is Trooping the Colour? All About King Charles' Public Birthday Celebration

The British royal family will soon come together for King Charles' birthday parade

King Charles is continuing a royal tradition!

The King will be honored at Trooping the Colour, the annual birthday parade for the British monarch held in London, for the second time in his reign on June 15, 2024. Charles has attended the royal event since he was a child — first for his grandfather, King George VI, and then for his mother, Queen Elizabeth — but he has been at the center of the festivities in the past two years as sovereign.

The parade's origins trace back to the battlefield, when a regiment's flags, called "colours," signaled a rallying point for soldiers, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich.

"In order to ensure that every soldier would be able to recognize their colours, the flag would be marched or 'trooped' regularly 'round the ranks," they state. "A regiment’s colours came to have huge significance for serving soldiers, and the gain or loss of colours were seen as decisive moments in battle."

Related: Royal Family's Best Trooping the Colour Moments Over the Years — Including Prince Harry's Cheeky Face!

According to the British Army, the ceremonial presentation of the military's regimental flags, called "colours," is believed to have first been performed during the reign of King Charles II, who ruled from 1660 to 1685. The parade was first formally linked to the monarch’s birthday during the reign of King George II in 1748, and there was a practical reason for the event not being celebrated on the monarch's actual birth date.

“With a November birthday being too cold for a celebratory parade, he tied his celebrations in with the annual Trooping the Colour military parade,” Royal Museums Greenwich states.

Trooping the Colour got a permanent spot on the annual royal calendar following the accession of King George III in 1760.

The epic military procession continues to serve as the official birthday for the reigning king or queen, regardless of when their actual birthday may be. Queen Elizabeth's birthday was in April while King Charles' is in November, but both monarchs opted to hold the official public celebrations in June.

Related: Trooping the Colour: Hats Off to the Royals' Best Looks Through the Years

Hundreds of soldiers, horses and musicians come together for a patriotic display of military precision, horsemanship and fanfare. Members of the royal family travel by horse-drawn carriage or on horseback from Buckingham Palace down The Mall to Horse Guards Parade at St. James’ Park, almost a mile away. There, the King will receive a royal salute and inspect troops representing the Regiments of the Household Division, sharply dressed in ceremonial uniforms of red tunics and bearskin hats.

Military bands will perform, regimental flags will process down the ranks and the Officer in Command of the Parade will issue words of command to direct the soldiers.

After the Foot Guards march past the monarch, King Charles will lead the procession back to Buckingham Palace and take another salute from a dais. 

King Charles will then lead members of the royal family out on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the final event and the day’s most iconic photo-op. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis join other members of the family to see the Royal Air Force perform a colorful flypast overhead. Around the same time, a 41-gun salute will be fired in the nearby Green Park.

Well-wishers typically pack the Union Jack-lined streets for a glimpse of the royal family and the spectacular pageantry.

Following Queen Elizabeth's death in September 2022 and King Charles’ subsequent accession, the royal roles were shuffled. King Charles succeeded his mother as Colonel-in-Chief of the seven regiments of the household division — the Grenadier Guards, Welsh Guards, Irish Guards, Blues and Royals, Scots Guards, Life Guards and Coldstream Guards.

In December 2022, the King announced that Prince William would take over his old role as Colonel of the Welsh Guards, nicely tying to his title as the new Prince of Wales, the traditional moniker for the heir.

King Charles also made Kate Middleton the new honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards, a fitting position for the Princess of Wales, who has honored the regiment most St. Patrick's Day holidays since marrying into the royal family in 2011.

Queen Camilla also received a new title and became the Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. In January 2022, Queen Elizabeth stripped Prince Andrew of the honor in the wake of the scandal surrounding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

Princess Anne continued in her position as Colonel of the Blues and Royals, and the Duke of Kent is the Colonel of the Scots Guards.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.