In the Spring of 1977, a small group of representatives met and formed an organization to govern the color guard activity from coast to coast. The goal was to create a standard set of competition rules, establish unity in judging techniques, and provide a national championship event. The organization that would bloom from this meeting was known as Winter Guard International.

That critical meeting was held on May 14, 1977, and the outcome was something more beautiful than any of the visionaries could have ever hoped for. Though most of the founding members are no longer with us to celebrate this day, we had one in attendance at the 2022 World Championships event.

Below you will find a clip of Marie Czapinski at last year’s Color Guard World Championships, along with the minutes of the first ever meeting of WGI. Join us in celebrating WGI’s birthday this Sunday!