The Fourth Degree Color Corps · Assembly 1087 · Dallas

Some men watch the procession. A few lead it.

When the bishop processes in, when a brother Knight is carried to his grave, when the flag comes forward on Memorial Day, the Color Corps is there: sword at the carry, white gloves, eyes front. In Dallas, that’s us. We’re looking for a few more men to stand the post.

I’m in. How do I join? 125 years of it
What the Color Corps is

The honor guard of the Church

The Color Corps is the uniformed arm of the Fourth Degree, the patriotic degree of the Knights of Columbus. Since 1900, Sir Knights have stood as an honor guard for the Church and for the country: at papal Masses and at small-parish confirmations, at Arlington and at the local cemetery. Every one of them is a volunteer. No one is ordered to stand there. He chooses to.

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At the altar

Confirmations, ordinations, the bishop’s Masses, parish feast days. We lead the procession in and form the guard of honor at the sanctuary.

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At the graveside

When a brother Knight dies, his assembly stands guard at his funeral, so no Sir Knight is buried without his brothers beside him.

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Under the flag

Memorial Day, Veterans Day, the Fourth of July, presentations of the colors. Patriotism is the principle of the Fourth Degree, and this is where it shows.

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In the streets

Rosary processions, Corpus Christi, pro-life Masses and parades: carrying the colors of the Church and the nation through the city.

In Dallas, this fall alone

Where Assembly 1087 has stood

A Mass and Rosary procession for life at St. Patrick. Fourth Degree exemplifications, standing guard as new Sir Knights took the degree. Coming up: the championship games of the Bob Stross Memorial Basketball Classic at Bishop Lynch, which this assembly has always covered, and the Protecting Life Mass at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in January.

Parishes call, and we come. The more men we have, the more of those calls we can say yes to, and right now there are more calls than men.

See what’s coming up
A Fourth Degree color guard in berets, sashes and white gloves marching with the American and papal flags on Memorial Day
Memorial Day, 2021: a Fourth Degree color guard on parade
How it works

Color Guard, Honor Guard, and the sword

The Color Corps follows the Supreme Council’s own drill manual: the same commands, the same movements, from Dallas to New Haven. You learn it alongside your brothers, at practice and on the job.

Honor GuardA Sir Knight who has mastered the Manual of the Sword: the salutes, the carry, the present. He flanks the altar, the casket and the flag.
Color GuardAt least two honor guards escorting the color bearers: the American flag, the papal flag, the flag of Texas and the Knights’ own.
Fourth Degree Knights in plumed chapeaux, capes and sashes, swords at their sides, presenting the American flag to Navy sea cadets at a Veterans Day ceremony
Veterans Day, 2014: Sir Knights in the classic regalia pass the colors to Navy sea cadets

The uniform

For decades the Color Corps wore the regalia people still picture: the plumed chapeau, the flowing cape, the baldric and the silver sword. The plume and cape colors marked a man’s office.

Since 2017 the uniform is a navy blazer with the Fourth Degree emblem, a black beret, the Fourth Degree tie and gray slacks. In the Color Corps a Sir Knight adds the service baldric, white gloves and the sword. Different look, same post, same men.

The history

125 years at attention

The Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 by Blessed Michael McGivney, a parish priest in New Haven, Connecticut, to look after the widows and orphans of Catholic men. Eighteen years later the Order added a degree for patriotism, and with it, an honor guard.

  1. 1900The first Fourth Degree exemplification, on Washington’s Birthday, February 22, at the Lenox Lyceum in New York City, with about 1,100 Knights present. The first Sir Knights carried swords with cross-shaped hilts, the mark of Catholic knighthood.
  2. 1912Sir Knights lead the parade at the dedication of the Columbus Memorial in Washington, D.C.
  3. 1917As the United States enters the First World War, the Fourth Degree pledges its members’ allegiance to the Constitution and the flag.
  4. 1970The Color Corps regalia is set down: the chapeau, the cape, the service baldric and the silver sword.
  5. 1983About 350 Sir Knights form an honor guard at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
  6. 1995Honor guards for Pope St. John Paul II’s visit to the United States, including his Mass in New York.
  7. 2001After September 11, Sir Knights help launch the Knights’ Heroes Fund for the families of fallen first responders, and more than 1,000 attend a Day of Remembrance Mass in Washington.
  8. 2008Honor guards for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit, from the welcome on the White House South Lawn onward.
    Rows of Fourth Degree Knights in plumed chapeaux and capes saluting at the White House welcome for Pope Benedict XVI
    White House South Lawn, April 2008
  9. 2013The first Fourth Degree honor guard ever invited to a papal event in St. Peter’s Square, at a Mass with Pope Francis.
  10. 2017The new uniform: blazer, beret and tie, with the baldric and sword for the Color Corps.
  11. 2025The Fourth Degree marks 125 years of patriotic service.
  12. TodayFr. Abram J. Ryan Assembly 1087 carries the colors for the parishes of Dallas. The next chapter is written by whoever steps up.
An honor guard in capes and plumed chapeaux standing watch along a church hall during a tour of relics of the Passion
Standing watch over relics of the Passion, 2017
What it takes

Three steps to the post

Be a Third Degree Knight

Any practical Catholic man who is a Third Degree member of his council in good standing can go on. Not a Knight yet? We’ll connect you with the council at your parish.

Take the Fourth Degree

Fill in Form 4 online and we’ll get you to the next exemplification. Two are already set for January and February 2027.

Join the Color Corps

It’s optional within the degree, and it’s open to every Sir Knight. Come stand with us at a Mass, learn the drill alongside your brothers, and get your uniform.

Stand the post

No experience needed. No military background needed. Just a Catholic man willing to show up, stand straight, and honor God and country while the rest of the world watches.

I’m a Knight. Talk to me about the Fourth Degree I’m already a Sir Knight. Put me in the Color Corps

Need an honor guard for your parish? Ask us.

Photos are of Fourth Degree color corps from other assemblies, via Wikimedia Commons, resized: Fourth of July parade, Dundalk, Maryland, by Farragutful (source, CC BY-SA 4.0); Memorial Day by Jim.henderson (source, CC BY 4.0); Veterans Day, Bremerton, Washington, U.S. Navy photo by MC Jamie Hawkins (source, public domain); White House, 2008, White House photo by Shealah Craighead (source, public domain); relic tour, Utah, by ExorcisioTe (source, CC BY-SA 4.0). History from the Supreme Council’s Columbia magazine, “125 Years of Patriotic Service” (April 2025).