To The Color is sounded today as a salute to the National colors.

The earliest notation of the modern call appears in the 1874 U.S. Army Infantry manual (Upton Manual). The call can be sounded in unison by a group of buglers or by a single bugler. When a band is not present, To The Color is played instead of The Star-Spangled Banner. Military members salute with a hand and face the flag or music.

The call has served two purposes over the years. One to bring out the regimental standard or flag and salute it. The other was to form into an organized formation for battle or review.

The first authentic instance of a command given by a trumpet (bugle) call occurred at the Battle of Bouvines, where Philip Augustus of France defeated Otto IV of Germany in 1214, when the trumpets sounded the signal for the victorious French charge. According to Markman in his Soldiers Accidence, one of the signals listed was: ”A la Standard” To The Standard or Color.

Cesare Bendinelli (c. 1542–1617), in his “The Entire Art of Trumpet Playing” published in 1614, lists Alla stendardo. “To the Standard” “Call for falling into rank against the enemy; you can play [only] part [of it] or more as it seems [fitting] to you; you can also take the occasion of playing it in the field as a sarasinetta.” -Translation by Edward H. Tarr.

In 1632, Marin Mersenne published Harmonicorum Instrumentarum Libri IV. Mersenne was a French polymath whose work covered many different fields. His work included trumpet signals, such as ‘A l étendard’—’To The Standard’.

The 19th century reference is “Au Drapeau” (To The Flag), which appears in French Infantry Manuals of 1832. It was later included in the United States Light Infantry Manual by General Winfield Scott as “To the Colour.” This call is No. 3 in the Scott Manual, following “The General,” which is an alert to pack up and prepare to move, and “The Assembly,” the signal to form up in ranks on the company streets.

“”To the Colour” is the bugle call for the companies to march to the parade ground to form as a full regiment. In other words, “march to the flag or color.” The colors (national ensign and regimental flag) are pre-positioned on the parade ground, and the companies form in line on either side. This is the way a dress parade was formed, which was also the line of battle for a regiment. This routine was performed each day as a way to practice forming a regiment. “To the Colour” is followed in the manual by “Common Time,” which is a march played with drums to give a cadence for the soldiers to march to the parade ground.

It should be noted that, with the exception of the “Tattoo,” all the calls used in the U.S. Infantry manuals were derived from the French manuals. The French had no Tattoo call, which explains the insertion of a newer Tattoo call into the 1835 Scott Manual. That’s another article.

The US Cavalry used the trumpet call “To The Standard,” which was written for three parts. “Standard,” of course, means flag. The Cavalry and Artillery use “Boots and Saddles” and “To Horse” to form the regiment. “To The Standard” is used in ceremonies to salute the flag. It is performed after a presentation of sabers.

Throughout the Civil War, “To the Color” (the “u” is dropped in Civil War Infantry manuals) was used as the call to form companies on the regimental line. There was no official call used as a salute to the U.S. Flag in the Infantry, as was prescribed in the Cavalry. Additionally, there was no national anthem at that time, although The Star-Spangled Banner and Hail Columbia were considered the top national airs.

It’s interesting that the only Medal of Honor ever awarded to a musician for performing a musical activity was given to William Carson for bugling ‘To The Color’ at Chickamauga, Georgia, in September 1863.

His Medal of Honor citation reads: “At a critical stage in the battle when the 14th Corps lines were wavering and in disorder, Musician Carson, on his own initiative bugled “to the color(s)” amid the 18th U.S. Infantry who formed by him, and held the enemy. Within a few minutes he repeated his action amid the wavering 2d Ohio Infantry. This bugling deceived the enemy who believed reinforcements had arrived. Thus, they delayed their attack.”​

Full article can be found at: www.tapsbugler.com/william-carson-medal-of-honor-bugler/

After the Civil War, the Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery continued to use the same bugle and trumpet signals. In 1874, Lt. Colonel (Brevet General) Emory Upton published an updated manual based on his revisions for tactics for the U.S. Army. When creating his new instructor’s manual, Upton asked Major Truman Seymour of the 5th U.S. Artillery to develop a new system of bugle calls for the military. Upton’s goal was to create a more unified system across different branches of service to reduce battlefield confusion. Major Seymour selected from existing calls—mostly Cavalry—still in use. Some, mainly French-derived, he discarded, while others he revised. Several new calls were added, including a new version of “To The Color.” In the end, Seymour’s set of calls remains in use today.

In 1886 John Philip Sousa published his “A Book of Instructions for the Field Trumpet and Drums” In the book he included a drum part for To The Color as well as adding a Sound Off to precede and end the call.

In July 1889, Navy Secretary Benjamin Franklin Tracy issued General Order 374 regarding band music played during Morning and Evening Colors. He designated The Star-Spangled Banner (which was not yet our national anthem) for morning colors and Hail Columbia for evening colors. This music was to accompany the raising and lowering of the flag. What was not specified was the bugle call to be played if there was no band.

The bugle music for Morning Colors and Evening Colors appears in the Book of Seamanship by Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce in 1891. No doubt, this was intended for use in flag raising or lowering when no band was present. The music selected for these occasions was arranged by Lieutenant William McCarty Little. Little was a student of Luce’s and likely musically inclined. Instead of using the music of “To the Color” for morning colors, Little chose the music “President’s Call” from the 1874 US Infantry manual by Emory Upton, arranged in three parts. “President’s Call” is based on the 1789 “The President’s March” by Philip Phile. “The President’s March” was composed for George Washington’s first inauguration and later gained popularity as “Hail Columbia” when lyrics were added by Joseph Hopkinson in 1798.

Evening colors was the bugle call of retreat, which originally derived from the French bugle call La Retraite, written by David Buhl in 1829. The call was used in Act 3 of Damnation de Faust by Hector Berlioz in 1846. This was not to remain in use for long. The calls for morning colors and evening colors became To the Color and Retreat, respectively. It remains in Naval tradition to this day, with the addition of Attention sounded before and Carry On sounded afterward. In the V.F. Safranek “Complete Instruction for Bugle, Trumpet, and Drum” (1918), it specifies only the first part of the call sounded on shipboard. This was, no doubt, due to the shorter staffs.

The Army and Air Force now use Reveille to raise the flag in the morning and To The Color to lower it. Here is an article on how Retreat and To The Color are used today: https://www.tapsbugler.com/retreat-and-to-the-color/

The To The Color is meant to be sounded while stationary and is not used for marching colors in. Colors are marched to a drum cadence or a band playing, but not To The Color.

I’ve included an example of what NOT to do below.

“To The Color” or “To The Colors”?? What’s in a name?

It’s as common as the incorrect rhythmic performance of Taps, the use of the term “21-gun salute” at military funerals, or the ongoing recitation of the origin of that Taps myth. The bugle call “To The Color” is often called “To The Colors,” but this is incorrect. The correct title for the call is “To The Color,” singular, referring to a single flag, not the colors of the flag. Most military manuals from the past 200 years (despite a few misprints) have titled it “To The Color” or “To The Standard.”

The Navy Band has a version of “To The Color” for band.

Here is a version for four trumpets