Reveille - Commonwealth of Nations and The United States

Commonwealth of Nations and The United States

The tune used in the Commonwealth of Nations is different from the one used in the United States, but they are used in analogous ways: to ceremonially start the day.

In modern times, the U.S. military plays (or sounds) "reveille" in the morning, generally near sunrise, though its exact time varies from base to base. On U.S. Army posts, the national flag is raised while reveille is played; on board U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard facilities, the flag is generally raised at 0800 (8 am) while the National Anthem or the bugle call "To the Colors" is played. On some U.S. military bases, reveille is accompanied by a cannon shot. As reveille is played (sounded), all uniformed personnel are required to come to attention and present a salute, either to the flag or in the direction of the music if the flag is not visible.

In Commonwealth Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday services, "The Last Post" begins the period of silent reflection, and "Reveille" ends it. The two tunes symbolize sunset and sunrise respectively, and therefore, death and resurrection. ("Reveille" is often replaced by The Rouse, a bugle call commonly mistaken for "Reveille", although these are actually two different tunes.)

"To Reveille" or "to sound Reveille" is often used among military personnel as a term meaning "to notify personnel that it is time to wake up," whether the bugle call is actually sounded or not. Units lacking the personnel or equipment necessary to play the tune will often assign the duty to "sound Reveille" to the last watch of the night, who must ensure that others are roused at the proper time, by any appropriate means (often by actually shouting the word "reveille" until everyone is awake).

Read more about this topic:  Reveille

Famous quotes containing the words united states, commonwealth of, commonwealth, nations, united and/or states:

    “Television is an excellent system when one has nothing to lose, as is the case with a nomadic and rootless country like the United States, but in Europe the affect of television is that of a bulldozer which reduces culture to the lowest possible denominator.”
    —Marc Fumaroli (b. 1932)

    “The commonwealth of Athens is become a forest of beasts.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “We must conceive of this whole universe as one commonwealth of which both gods and men are members.”
    —Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)

    “Nations have lost their old omnipotence; the patriotic tie does not hold. Nations are getting obsolete, we go and live where we will.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem.”
    —Walt Whitman (1819–1892)

    “Sean Thornton: I don’t get this. Why do we have to have you along. Back in the states I’d drive up, honk the horn, a gal’d come runnin’ out.
    Mary Kate Danaher: Come a runnin’. I’m no woman to be honked at and come a runnin’.”
    —Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)