The first Presentation of Colours to The Ulster Defence Regiment took place when four battalions were presented with Colours by HM The Queen at Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The battalions receiving Colours were the 1st/9th, the 3rd, the 4th, and the 5th Battalion The Ulster Defence Regiment.

HM The Queen presented the Colours before the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. The Queen usually presents Colours in person only to those regiments of which she is Colonel-in-Chief, and it was her personal decision to present these first Stands of Colours to The Ulster Defence Regiment. It was also The Queen’s first return visit to Northern Ireland since her Silver Jubilee in 1977. Her intention to appear was such a well-kept secret that as soon as she stepped out on the dais ‘You could almost hear the gasp of the soldiers on parade suddenly realizing who was there’.

In her speech HM The Queen stated:

‘The UDR stands for those who are not prepared to stand by and let evil prosper. I salute your courage, your sense of duty and your resolve together with a determination, which I share, that terrorism cannot be allowed to win.’

To read a personal account by an officer who has carried Colours please open the attachment below.