Across the UK today gun salutes have fired in celebration of King Charles 75th birthday. So why do we have gun salutes and where does the tradition come from?
Where does the gun salute tradition originate from?
The Custom of firing gun salutes dates back to the days of sail ships. As a goodwill gesture, ships coming into a foreign port, the ship would discharge all their guns to seaward upon arriving to indicate to the the authorities on land that the ship was coming into port with peaceful intentions with empty guns.
Today gun salutes are fired in respect and honour of royalty and heads of state, along with certain military personnel. This tradition dates back to 1730 when the Royal Navy began firing a 21 gun salute to mark certain anniversaries. The number 21 being an odd number comes from ancient times where even numbers were associated with mourning and so odd numbers were used as gun salutes.
Finally in 1808, the 21 gun salute was embedded in custom and became the mandatory standard salute for the Royal Family and heads of state.
The 21 gun salute is the most common of all the gun salutes, the tradition dating back to around the 15th century where British ships had 7 guns on board, to welcome the incoming ships, the harbour would fire 3 times for every shot fired by the incoming ship which would total 21 shots fired and where the 21 gun salute is said to come from.
Beyond the 21 gun salute there are the 41 and 62 gun salutes, this dates back to the 1800s and depends on the location where the gun salute is taking place. An extra 20 rounds are fired from a Royal Park or Royal Fortress making the gun salute 41 rounds fired. This was ordered by the Board of Ordnance in 1827
An extra 21 gun salutes are fired if fired from the City of London making a 62 gun salute and is said to be a sign of loyalty from the citizens of the city.
The gun salute for the Kings coronation gun salute involved 400 military personnel in 13 locations and deployed Royal Navy vessels firing across the UK & the Commonwealth.
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