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The Colts Drum and Bugle Corps (previously known as the Junior Dukes, Legionnaires, and Colt .45) is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Dubuque, Iowa. The Colts are part of the Colts Youth Organization and a member of Drum Corps International, along with their feeder corps, the Colt Cadets, which participates in Open Class. The Colts Youth Organization also oversees the Colts Summer Band, Colts World Percussion, and a defunct competitive winter guard.

History
The corps was founded in 1963 as the Junior Dukes, a junior corps to the Dukes of Dubuque, a senior corps. The Junior Dukes was created as a junior corps to the senior Dukes of Dubuque corps as a way for younger people to get involved in the activity. The Junior Dukes were sponsored by the local American Legion Post #6 and competed as a military style parade band. The corps performed for two years under that name before the Dukes of Dubuque senior corps disbanded in 1965. After the disbandment of the senior corps, the name of the junior corps was switched to the Legionnaires, and in 1966, the corps began to accept female members. By 1967, the corps was large enough to create a feeder corps known as the Legionnaires Cadets, and the Legionnaires began touring in regional VFW competitions. In their first full season of competition in 1968, the Legionnaires travelled over 4,000 miles and won eight first place finishes. The Legionnaires were also established as a non-profit organization in 1968 under the legal name Legion-Aires Drum & Bugle Corps.

In 1969, the corps changed their name again, then to the Colt .45 and Colt.45 Cadets. In 1971, the corps began to compete in VFW national competitions and began to rise in the ranks, earning as high as 5th place in 1973. That same year Colt .45 joined Drum Corps International, taking 28th in their first championship competition. Three years later, citing the negative association with both firearms and Colt 45 beer, the ".45" was dropped and the current naming convention was adopted. At that time, the non-profit overseeing both drum corps also changed their name to the Colts Youth Organization.

The Colts continued to compete as a member of Drum Corps International, earning their first top twelve finals spot in 1993. The Colts have scored in the top twenty five to make semifinals every year from 1982 to 2023. They earned their highest ranking in 1995 and 2023 at 9th place, and have made a total of 10 finals placements as of 2023.

Colt Cadets
The Colt Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps was founded in 1967 as the Legionnaires Cadets. The corps was renamed to the Colt .45 Cadets in 1969 before settling on the name Colt Cadets in 1976. The group is a competitive junior drum corps serving as the feeder corps to the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps and a member of the Drum Corps International Open Class division. A feeder corps is an Open Class group made up of younger members with the goal of training them to move up to the World Class group. As of 2023, the Colt Cadets are one of only two feeder corps competing in Drum Corps International, the other being the Blue Devils B Drum and Bugle Corps. The only other remaining feeder corps, the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets, announced an indefinite hiatus beginning in the 2023 competitive season.

Unlike other competitive drum and bugle corps, the Colt Cadets do not hold formal auditions. The corps is open to middle and high school students of any experience level. The group meets from mid June to early August, travelling throughout the Midwest to compete on the weekends and returning to Iowa to rehearse during the week before finishing their season at Drum Corps International Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Colt Cadets have made Drum Corps International Open Class Finals by placing in the top twelve at Open Class Championships eight times from 2010 to 2023.

Show Summary (2000-2023)
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Other Ensembles
In addition to the Colts and Colt Cadets, the Colts Youth Organization operates the Colts Summer Band and the Colts World Percussion ensembles for Dubuque-area youth. In the past, they ran a winter guard that achieved moderate competitive success in the late 1970s.

Colts Summer Band
The Colts Summer Band is a free concert ensemble open to students in fourth to eighth grade from the Dubuque area. The group meets for four weeks over the summer in both semi-private lessons and full band rehearsals. The season concludes with a performance at the Alliant Energy Amphitheater in Dubuque in early July.

Colts World Percussion
The Colts World Percussion ensembles consist of different groups dedicated to learning different cultural percussion genres. There are ensembles dedicated to Latin, African, Japanese Taiko, urban, and steelpan drumming. All of these ensembles are provided to local students at no cost and specifically target underfunded and underserved areas in the Dubuque metro area. The Colts also operate PanrhythmiX, a full steelpan drum orchestra. PanrhythmiX is open to students at Prescott Elementary School in Dubuque. The Colts run a separate program called Pandemonium that serves as a continuation of the PanrhythmiX program and is open to all Dubuque area middle schoolers.

Colts Winter Guard (Inactive)
The Colts winter guard started competing competitively in 1976. The group achieved competitive success during their first year, winning first place at the Midwest Color Guard Circuit Championships in Elmhurst, IL. They also won the VFW National Guard Championship in New York City and scored the highest number of points in competition history. The group continued to achieve moderate success throughout the late 1970s, winning the VFW National Guard Championship again in 1977, scoring fourth in their only appearance at WGI Championships in 1978, and seventh at the Midwest Color Guard Circuit Championships in 1979. However, the group experienced a high member turnover rate in the 1980 season, and placed 18th at the Midwest Color Guard Circuit Championships. The Colts announced the winter guard would not compete after the 1980 season.