A Foundation Built Around The Colors
How a joint service color guard grew into a foundation with two national programs and one very short mission statement.
Carry The Colors Foundation
We are a nonprofit that exists to put the American flag, and the people who served under it, in front of the public as often as we can manage.
It began in 2017 as the All American Color Guard, a joint service unit assembled to present the colors properly at events that had been making do without. Demand grew, the roster grew with it, and what started as a color guard turned into something that needed a foundation behind it.
Today the Carry The Colors Foundation runs two programs. The color guard presents the colors. The Star Spangled Performance Program supplies the voices and the music that go with them. Both draw from the same pool of active duty, Reserve, National Guard and veteran members.
Restore Patriotism
It is deliberately short. Here is what it commits us to.
Honors rendered correctly, every time. Uniforms inspected, sequence rehearsed, flag handled the way the code says it is handled. A sloppy detail does more harm than no detail.
Patriotism that only happens in private rooms does not restore anything. We go where people already are: stadiums, parades, town squares, graduations, memorials and funerals.
Every member of a detail is active duty, Reserve, National Guard or an honorably discharged veteran, in the dress uniform they earned. That is not a preference, it is the requirement.
What Runs Under The Foundation
Every Branch, One Formation
Joint service is not a slogan for us. Our roster carries members from across the armed forces, and a single detail will often put several branches shoulder to shoulder.
It matters visually and it matters to the people watching. A crowd that sees six different dress uniforms in one line understands something about the country that a speech would take ten minutes to say.
Put The Colors At The Front Of Your Event
Ceremonies, games, parades, memorials, openings, private events. Tell us the date and what the moment calls for, and we will tell you what we can field.
Audition
Submit a tape to join the Star Spangled Performance Program roster. Open to active duty, Reserve, National Guard and honorably discharged veterans.
Carry It Without Help
The bar is a practical one. Most of our venues are large, loud and unforgiving, and the anthem is often the first thing the crowd hears.
- Pitch and breath control that hold through the full anthem
- Enough volume and projection to fill a venue
- The melody performed straight, at a steady tempo
- Clear diction, because people are singing along
- Composure, because something will go wrong at some point
Four Steps
One unedited take of The Star-Spangled Banner from beginning to end. A phone is fine. Do not overdub, do not add production, and do not stop and restart.
Fifteen seconds on camera: your name, your branch, your status and where you are located. This can be at the front of the same video.
Send the file or a link through the form below, along with your service verification. Unlisted video links are the easiest thing for us to review.
We listen to every submission. If you are selected you go onto the roster for your region and are called when an event fits your availability and your voice.
The Checklist
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Anthem recording | One continuous unedited take, audio or video, phone quality accepted |
| Introduction | About fifteen seconds: name, branch, status, location |
| Service verification | DD214 for veterans, or current orders or military ID if still serving |
| Instrument | Vocalists, instrumentalists and buglers are all welcome. State which you are |
| Travel | Tell us how far you are able to travel from your home location |
| Availability | Weekends, weeknights, holidays. Be honest, it affects what we call you for |
Send Your Audition
Use the form below to send your tape and your service verification. If your file is too large to attach, send an unlisted link instead.
Every submission is listened to in full. You will hear back either way.
The All American Color Guard
A joint service color guard of active duty, Reserve, National Guard and veteran members, presenting the colors at events nationwide since 2017.
Every Branch In One Line
The AACG is a joint service color guard. Our members come from across the armed forces and appear in the dress uniform of the branch they serve or served in.
Details are assembled around the event. A stadium anthem, a graveside service and a parade are three different jobs, and they are not staffed the same way. We will tell you what the event calls for before you commit to anything.
There is a Leadership Element of commissioned officers overseeing standards, training and the conduct of every detail we field.
If People Will Be Standing, We Should Be There
We perform at private events and at large-scale public ones, anywhere in the country.
Pregame colors and the national anthem for football, baseball, basketball, rodeo and motorsport, from high school through professional.
Promotions, retirements, commissionings, changes of command, oath of enlistment and naturalization ceremonies.
Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances, wreath layings, dedications and services for those who served.
Fourth of July, veterans parades, city and county observances, ribbon cuttings and public dedications.
Company openings, conferences, banquets, galas, weddings and fundraisers that want the colors presented properly.
Graduations, assemblies, JROTC events, homecomings and anything where students should see it done right.
A Detail That Has Rehearsed
- Members in the correct dress uniform for their branch, inspected before the event
- Honors rendered in accordance with the United States Flag Code
- Sequence confirmed with your event staff in advance, including entry, posting, anthem and retirement of the colors
- Colors, staffs, stands and rifles supplied by us unless you ask otherwise
- A point of contact who answers before, during and after the event
Before You Ask Us
Nationwide. We are based in Lubbock, Texas, and we routinely travel for large-scale events. Distance affects cost and lead time, so the earlier you ask the better.
It depends on the event. A standard color guard is four, and larger ceremonies often call for more. We will recommend a size when we know the venue and the sequence.
As much as you can give us. Our members have jobs and service obligations, so a detail is assembled around real schedules. Short-notice requests are worth sending anyway.
Yes. That is what the Star Spangled Performance Program is for. Ask for both in one request and we will coordinate them as a single sequence.
It varies with size, travel and what the event needs. We are a nonprofit, not a vendor, and we will be straight with you about what a detail requires. Send the request and we will come back with specifics.
Yes. The Carry The Colors Foundation is a Texas nonprofit with a 501(c)(3) application pending with the IRS.
Put The Colors At The Front Of Your Event
Ceremonies, games, parades, memorials, openings, private events. Tell us the date and what the moment calls for, and we will tell you what we can field.
Contact Us
Performances, membership, auditions, sponsorship and media. One inbox, and we read all of it.
Point Your Message At The Right Thing
It all reaches the same inbox. Naming the subject gets you a faster answer.
| If you want to | Do this |
|---|---|
| Book the color guard or an anthem | Use the rather than email. It asks the questions we would have to ask anyway |
| Join the color guard | Use the and have your DD214, orders or military ID ready |
| Audition for the SSPP | Use the and include your recording or an unlisted link |
| Donate or sponsor | Email us and we will take you through it directly while online giving is being finished |
| Press and media | Email us with your outlet, your deadline and what you need. We can usually accommodate a same-week request |
| Anything else | Email us. A real person reads it |
Write To Us
Use the form below for general enquiries. If you are booking a performance, joining the color guard or auditioning, the dedicated forms on those pages will get you a faster answer.
We are based in Lubbock, Texas and we travel nationwide.
Donate
Support the All American Color Guard and the Star Spangled Performance Program. Online giving opens soon.
We are finishing the setup for online donations. Until it is live, reach us at info@CarryTheColors.org and we will take you through it directly.
The Carry The Colors Foundation has applied for 501(c)(3) recognition and is waiting on the IRS determination. Until that letter arrives we cannot promise a gift is tax deductible. When exemption is granted the IRS normally backdates it to the formation date, which would cover gifts made in the meantime, but please treat that as expected rather than guaranteed and check with your own tax adviser.
What A Gift Actually Pays For
We are a volunteer roster. Money goes to the things volunteers cannot absorb themselves.
Getting a detail to an event that cannot cover the cost itself. Schools, small towns and family services are the ones this matters most for.
Flags, staffs, finials, harnesses, stands and ceremonial rifles. They wear out, and a worn flag does not go into a formation.
Helping members obtain or replace items of the dress uniform so that cost never decides who stands in the line.
Auditions, rehearsals and the administration that lets us say yes to more events in more states.
Giving Is Not The Only Option
- Sponsor a specific detail or event in your community
- Host us, and cover the travel for a school or nonprofit that cannot
- Serve, and join the roster if you are eligible
- Audition, if you can sing or play
- Share the work, and tell an event organizer we exist
Put The Colors In Front Of Your Community
Every request we can say yes to is the mission working.
Events
Where the All American Color Guard and the Star Spangled Performance Program are presenting the colors next.
Our upcoming appearances will be listed here. In the meantime, the All American Color Guard posts where it is headed on Instagram.
If you are running an event and want the colors presented, do not wait for a gap in this list. Send the request and we will tell you what we can field.
When We Are Busiest
Some dates fill a year out. If your event falls on one of these, ask early.
Observances, wreath layings and graveside services. Our single busiest weekend, and the one that books first.
Parades, city celebrations, ballgames and fireworks openings across multiple states.
School assemblies, civic ceremonies and community observances, often several in one day.
Friday night football through the college and professional season. Pregame colors and the anthem.
High school and university commencements, commissionings and JROTC events through May and June.
Promotions, retirements, changes of command, funerals, openings and private events, whenever they happen.
Put The Colors At The Front Of Your Event
Ceremonies, games, parades, memorials, openings, private events. Tell us the date and what the moment calls for, and we will tell you what we can field.
Jayton A. Ellis
United States Navy aircrewman, eight years. Founder of the All American Color Guard and the Carry The Colors Foundation.
Eight Years In The Air, Then Eight Years Carrying The Colors
Jayton A. Ellis served eight years in the United States Navy as an aircrewman. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University and lives in Lubbock, Texas, where the foundation is based.
In 2017 he founded the All American Color Guard because he kept attending events where the colors were presented badly, or not at all. What he built instead was a joint service unit that could be called on anywhere in the country and would render honors to standard when it got there.
The Star Spangled Performance Program followed from the same observation. A color guard and a good anthem belong together, and finding both for the same event was harder than it should have been. So he built the second program to sit alongside the first.
Why This Exists
That is the whole thesis of the foundation, and it is why both programs are built around people who served. The uniform in the formation is the argument.
Bring The Colors To Your Event
Jay and the roster travel. Tell us the date, the venue and what the moment calls for.
Join The Color Guard
Active duty, Reserve, National Guard and honorably discharged veterans are eligible to apply to the All American Color Guard.
Who We Take
You need to have served, and you need to be able to wear the uniform correctly. That is most of it.
- Active duty, Reserve or National Guard, in any branch
- Or an honorably discharged veteran of any branch
- Able to present a DD214, or current orders or ID if still serving
- In possession of, or able to obtain, the dress uniform of your branch
- Willing to be inspected and to rehearse before a detail
Four Steps, In Order
Each one has to clear before the next, because the standard is the entire product.
Complete the membership form below. We ask for your branch, your status, where you are located and the last dress uniform you held, because that determines what details you can be assigned to.
Submit your DD214, or your current orders or military ID if you are still serving. Nobody joins a formation on this roster without verified service. This is the step that protects everyone else in the line.
We confirm what you have, what you need, and how the branch you came from renders honors. The Leadership Element handles this and will tell you plainly if something has to be corrected first.
You are added to the roster for your region and called when an event fits your branch, your availability and your uniform. You rehearse the sequence with the detail before you step off.
The Commitment
This is a volunteer roster, not a second job. We ask for honesty about your availability rather than enthusiasm you cannot sustain.
- Answer when you are called, even if the answer is no
- Show up in a uniform that would pass an inspection
- Rehearse with the detail, however many times you have done it before
- Represent the branch on your sleeve and the people watching
There is no minimum number of events. There is a minimum standard, and it does not move.
Send Us Your Application
Complete the form below and the Leadership Element will review it. Have your DD214, orders or military ID ready to submit, and tell us the last dress uniform you held.
If anything about your situation does not fit neatly into the form, send it anyway and explain in the notes. We would rather read it than lose you to a dropdown.
Request A Performance
Book the All American Color Guard, a Star Spangled performer, or both together, for your ceremony, game, parade, memorial or private event.
Three Ways To Ask
A joint service detail to present, post and retire the colors. Standard is four members; larger ceremonies often call for more.
A vocalist, instrumentalist or bugler from the Star Spangled Performance Program to perform the anthem or ceremonial music.
The colors and the anthem rehearsed together and timed to your run of show, with one point of contact for the whole sequence.
From Request To Step Off
Fill in the form below. The more you can tell us about the venue, the date and the run of show, the faster we can give you a real answer instead of a maybe.
We look at who is available in your region on that date, what branches we can field, and what the travel involves. You get a straight yes, a no, or an alternative.
We walk through the run of show with your event staff: entry, posting, anthem, retirement of the colors, and where the detail stands while everything else happens.
Uniforms inspected, sequence rehearsed on site, and a point of contact on the ground who your staff can reach.
What Makes A Request Easy To Answer
- Date, start time and the time the honors actually happen
- Venue name and full address, indoors or outdoors
- Type of event, and how formal it is
- Whether you want the colors, the anthem, or both
- Expected attendance, and whether there is a public address system
- Who our point of contact is on the day, and their cell number
If you do not have all of it yet, send what you have. A date and a city is enough to start the conversation.
Send Your Request
Complete the form below and we will come back to you with what we can field, what it involves and what it costs.
For a date inside the next two weeks, say so in the notes so we can move it up the queue. Short notice is worth asking about, it is just harder.
Star Spangled Performance Program
Service members and veterans who perform the national anthem and ceremonial music alongside the All American Color Guard.
The Anthem, Sung By Someone Who Served
The SSPP is the companion program to the color guard. Service members and veterans audition for a place on the roster, and those selected perform the national anthem and ceremonial music at foundation events.
It exists because the two halves belong together. The colors come forward and the anthem carries them. When both are done by people who wore the uniform, the moment lands differently, and everyone in the venue can feel it.
Performers are drawn from every branch and every status, the same as the color guard. Vocalists, instrumentalists and buglers all have a place on the roster.
What Gets Performed
The Star-Spangled Banner, performed straight. No improvisation on the melody, no liberties with the tempo. It is a march, and it is treated as one.
God Bless America, America the Beautiful, the service songs, and the music a formal ceremony calls for at the moment it calls for it.
Taps and the bugle calls for memorials, funerals, wreath layings and observances, rendered to standard.
One Sequence, Not Two Bookings
Ask for the color guard and an anthem in the same request and we will coordinate them as a single sequence, rehearsed together, timed to your run of show. You get one point of contact for both.
Auditions Are Open To Those Who Served
If you are active duty, Reserve, National Guard or an honorably discharged veteran and you can perform, submit an audition tape.
We listen to every submission. You do not need a studio, an accompanist or a resume of past performances. You need to be able to sing or play the anthem well enough to carry a full stadium without help.
Put The Colors At The Front Of Your Event
Ceremonies, games, parades, memorials, openings, private events. Tell us the date and what the moment calls for, and we will tell you what we can field.
Restore Patriotism
The Carry The Colors Foundation puts the American flag in front of people, presented by the men and women who swore an oath to defend it. Two programs, all six branches, ceremonies anywhere in the country.
Two words, and we mean them literally. Patriotism is not restored by arguing about it. It is restored by doing it correctly, in public, at the moments people already care about.
So that is the work. A joint service color guard that renders honors to standard. Service members and veterans who can sing the anthem the way it deserves to be sung. A flag carried by someone who has earned the uniform they are wearing while they carry it.
Every detail we field is made up of active duty, Reserve, National Guard and veteran members. Nobody is playing dress-up. That is the whole point.
Two Programs, One Formation
They were built to work together. The colors come forward, the anthem is sung, and the room stands up.
Who You Are Booking
The All American Color Guard has been presenting the colors since 2017. It is now one of two programs under the Carry The Colors Foundation, a Texas nonprofit with a 501(c)(3) application pending with the IRS, based in Lubbock, Texas.
Started By Someone Who Stood In The Formation
Jayton A. Ellis spent eight years in the United States Navy as an aircrewman. He built the All American Color Guard in 2017 and grew it into a foundation with two national programs.
He is a Texas Tech graduate and he runs this out of Lubbock, which is why the foundation is headquartered there.
Put The Colors At The Front Of Your Event
Ceremonies, games, parades, memorials, openings, private events. Tell us the date and what the moment calls for, and we will tell you what we can field.
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