Ruffles and flourishes are preceding fanfare for honors music, ceremonial music for distinguished people.

By country

Israel

In the Israeli Defense Forces, ruffles and flourishes are sounded as a guard of honor presents arms to signify the honors music that will follow. Depending on the status of the person receiving the honors, they will receive between one and three ruffles and flourishes in the honor of the recipient. *

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...

, foreign dignitaries: 3 ruffles and flourishes *

Prime minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...

, members of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

: 2 ruffles and flourishes * Cabinet members: 1 ruffle and flourish

Italy

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

uses ruffles and flourishes, particularly at ceremonies where the raising of the Italian national flag takes place. The music that is sounded is known as "" ("Honors") and is played usually before the performance of an abridged version of "".

South Korea

South Korea uses ruffles and flourishes, with a total of four played before the South Korean national anthem, or the "Phoenix Hymn", which is the official honors music for the

president of South Korea The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (), is the head of state and head of government of South Korea. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of South Korea, government and is ...

Philippines

The official ruffles and flourishes for the

president of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...

is played four times before the playing of "" or "" (). During military events, the ruffles and flourishes are sounded alongside a 21-gun artillery salute.

United States

U.S. ruffles are played on

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s, and flourishes are played on bugles. The

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

receives four ruffles and flourishes before " Hail to the Chief" and the

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

receives four ruffles and flourishes before " Hail, Columbia". In the U.S., four ruffles and flourishes is the maximum number played. Four ruffles and flourishes are played before

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

s, whether of the U.S. or foreign countries. General officers and admirals receive ruffles and floruishes equal to the number of stars they have, and then "General's March" or "Admiral's March" is played. Although roughly equivalent, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

has a different "Table of Honors" – some civilian officials more, others less; often different musical tunes – and includes in its arsenal of formal Honors one more, which is specific to naval traditions: sideboys, an even number of seamen (in this list eight for guests with quadruple or triple ruffles and flourishes, six for lower ranking dignitaries) posted at the gangway when the dignitary boards or leaves the ship, historically to help (or even hoist) him aboard, currently as a ceremonial sort of guard of honor.

Vatican City

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

also uses ruffles and flourishes during the newly-elected

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

's first public appearance and follows the abridged version of and 2-line version of the Italian national anthem and the is repeated with preceding ruffles and flourishes. The newly-elected pope delivers after a thanksgiving address.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffles and Flourishes Articles containing video clips Military life Military music Presidency of the United States United States military traditions