Trooping the Colour: The Guards Brooch

When the Queen arrives to survey the Welsh Guards at the annual Trooping the Colour festivities on June 13, the brooch she wears won’t be a surprise to anyone. For the past 26 years, she’s been wearing the same one: the Guards Brooch, which features the badges of the five Household regiments (the Coldstream Guards, the Grenadier Guards, the Irish Guards, the Scots Guards, and the Welsh Guards). The diamond brooch, which is surmounted by a crown, was likely made from a pendant given to the Queen’s aunt, Princess Mary, in 1922.

The Queen stopped riding in her birthday parade in 1987. (Before that, she wore a military uniform to participate in the parade on horseback.) Since then, she’s worn the Guards Brooch every single year — with one particular exception. Here’s a look at the Queen at Trooping the Colour over the past 28 Junes.