instituting a battle honour for the ships that served in the Vietnam War, then moved to a completely independent system before 1993, to avoid inheriting the battle honours of the British Newcastles. The Royal Canadian Navy began displaying battle honours in the 1950s, but after the Unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, new units entering service would only carry those honours earned by Canadian ships. The earliest recorded naval battle honour is ARMADA 1588, the defeat of the Spanish Armada at Gravelines by a combined British-Dutch fleet. Because of the significant number of ships sunk during World War I and World War II, only three battle honours have been awarded for single-ship actions since the start of the 20th century: to the cruiser for sinking the German light cruiser during the Battle of Cocos in November 1914 ('Emden' 1914), to the Commonwealth warships involved in the pursuit and last battle of the in May 1941 ('Bismarck' 1941), and to the cruiser for the mutually destructive engagement with the in November 1941 ('Kormoran' 1941). Battle honour board As warships do not carry regimental colours, battle honours are instead displayed on a battle honour board. This is usually a solid wooden board (traditionally teak) mounted on the ship's superstructure, carved with the ship's badge and scrolls naming the ship and the associated honours, and either left completely unpainted, or with the lettering painted gold. The size of the board and number of scrolls is dependent on the number of honours earned by a ship and her predecessors, although it is common for blank scrolls to be included in a design. Other designs are also in use: these include plaques for the ship and honours mounted on a backing board, or the details painted onto a flat board. The British Admiralty set honour board sizes for various types of ship: for capital ships and shore bases, for cruisers and large auxiliary ships, for all other surface ships, and for submarines (the size restriction is so the board can be moved through the submarine's hatches, as it is only displayed when the submarine is on the surface). Unusual awards of battle honours Two educational institutions have been awarded battle honours. La Martinere College in Lucknow, India was awarded a battle honour, Defence of Lucknow 1857, for the role played by its students and teachers during the mutiny of 1857. McGill University in Canada