The color guard and non-musical marching members in drum & bugle corps largely developed out of military honor guards. Over the years, some corps have included baton majors and majorettes — but largely, the auxiliary units have consisted of tall flag carriers (8' foot pikes), rifles (developed from military rifle drill teams) and saber squads.

The drum & bugle corps still maintains an honor squad, consisting of the corps' country's National Flag and "protectors", or "sidearms". Often, the honor squad will contain rifle or saber carriers, or carriers of sponsors/posts' flags. Sometimes the "sidearm" member is just that — someone who sports a gun holster.

In the 1960s and prior, most color guards tended to be small, consisting of a few squads. As most big corps — again, with exceptions — were often all-male, many color guards were all-female in order to provide a marching opportunity for young women. There have, however, been many all-girl and all-male corps throughout drum and bugle corps' rich history, up to the present time. But prior to 1960, there were far more, which provided competitive opportunities for those corps who wished them, often without the touring requirements of today. And some units/areas of the country had mixed-gender corps going back decades.

Today, now that gender is culturally less divisive and the requirements of corps memberships being military veterans (to a certain percentage) is uncommon, sections are much more rarely limited by gender. Mostly during the late 1960s, flag lines in particular mushroomed in size. During the days of execution drill, wherein yardlines on football fields were more rare and optional, the color guard often was an integral part of drill "dress" (positioning by sight, interval and direction).