Port Sanilac Light placement and the unique shape were dictated by and created because of budgetary constraints (Congress appropriated only half the money requested). Designed by Eleventh District Engineer Captain Charles E. L. B. Davis, the design has been called "both unique and architecturally significant in its elegance." The tower is white with a red roof. This "handsome" lighthouse shares its design with only one other, Ile Aux Galets, also known as Skilligallee Island Light, on Lake Michigan. The Port Sanilac Light tower is capped with a cast iron lantern room, which still houses a fourth order Fresnel lens manufactured by Barbier and
Trooping the Colour (and, once they have collected their colour during the ceremony, as 'Escort to the Colour'). At the outset, the colour is held by the Colour Party - a colour sergeant and two other guardsmen of No. 1 Guards, standing well-spaced on the northern side of Horse Guards Parade. Once obtained by the Regimental Sergeant Major of No. 1 Guard, the colour is borne through the ranks of Nos 2-6 Guards by an Ensign of No. 1 Guard. It is a great honour for a young officer to carry the colour in this ceremony, as historically only the most courageous Ensigns