List of army units called Guards

This is a list of past and present army units whose names include the word guard. Border Guards, Coast Guards, Home Guards, National Guards, Presidential Guards, Red Guards, Republican Guards, and Royal Guards are listed under their own articles.

Active

Australia

• Federation Guard

Austria

• Guard Battalion

Bahrain

• Royal Guard

Bulgaria

• National Guards Unit of Bulgaria

Canada

• Governor General's Foot Guards
• The Governor General's Horse Guards
• The Canadian Grenadier Guards.

Denmark

• Royal Life Guards
• Guard Hussar Regiment Mounted Squadron

Estonia

• Guard Battalion

Finland

• Guard Jaeger Regiment

Germany

• Wachbataillon

India

• Brigade of the Guards

Israel

• Knesset Guard (Hebrew: Mishmar HaKnesset) responsible for the security of the Knesset building and the protection of its members (MKs).

Jordan

• Royal Guard Brigade

Netherlands

• Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene
• Grenadiers' and Rifles Guard Regiment

North Korea

Guard Units

• 105th Guards Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Tank Division
• 2nd Guards Kang Kon Infantry Division
• 3rd Guards Seoul Infantry Division
• 4th Guards Seoul Kim Chaek Infantry Division
• 6th Guards Infantry Division
• 12th Andong Choe Chun Guk Infantry Division
• 10th Guards Infantry Regiment
• 14th Guards Infantry Regiment
• 18th Guards Ri Hun Infantry Regiment
• 86th Guards Infantry Regiment
• 19th Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
• 23rd Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment
• 2nd Guards Torpedo Boat Fleet
• 56th Guards Hero Kim Ji Sang Fighter Regiment

Units with the word guards

• Worker-Peasant Red Guards
• Youth Red Guards
• Supreme Guard Command - also known as KPA Unit 963

Morocco

• Moroccan Royal Guard

Norway

• His Majesty The King's Guard

Oman

• Royal Guard

Romania

• 30th Honor Guard Regiment "Mihai Viteazul"

Russia

Saudi Arabia

• Saudi Royal Guard Regiment

Serbia

• Military of Serbia Guard, elite military unit of Serbian Army used for ceremonial and special duties.

Singapore

• Singapore Guards, elite Singapore infantry unit used for special operations.

Spain

• Guardia Real

Sweden

• Life Guards

Switzerland

• Swiss Guard, Swiss mercenary soldiers who served as guards at foreign European courts.

Thailand

King's Guard (ceremonial designation given to units from the three branches of service)

• Royal Thai Army:
  • Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy Cadet Regiment, King's Guard
  • 1st Infantry Division, King's Guard
    • 1st Infantry Regiment, King's Own Bodyguard
    • 11th Infantry Regiment, King's Guard
    • 31st Infantry Regiment, King's Guard
  • 2nd Infantry Division, Queen's Guard
    • 2nd Infantry Regiment, Queen's Guard
    • 12th Infantry Regiment, Queen's Guard
    • 21st Infantry Regiment, Queen's Guard
  • 2nd Cavalry Division, King's Guard
    • 1st Cavalry Squadron, King's Guard
    • 4th Cavalry Squadron, King's Guard
    • 5th Cavalry Squadron, King's Guard
  • 27th Cavalry Division, King's Guard
  • 29th Cavalry Division, King's Guard
  • 1st Field Artillery Regiment, King's Guard
  • 2nd Field Artillery Regiment, King's Guard
  • 1st Air Defense Artillery Battalion, King's Guard
  • 1st Engineer Division, King's Guard
    • 1st Engineer Battalion, King's Guard
    • 2nd Engineer Battalion, King's Guard
  • 1st Signal Battalion, King's Guard
  • 2nd Signal Battalion, King's Guard
  • Transport Regiment, King's Guard
• Royal Thai Navy:
  • Naval Cadet Regiment, King's Guard (Cadet students of the Royal Naval Academy)
  • Headquarters Battalion of the 1st Infantry Regiment, Marine Division, King's Guard (Royal Thai Marine Corps)
  • Headquarters Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, Marine Division, King's Guard (Royal Thai Marine Corps)
  • 1st Marine Battalion, King's Guard, 1st Infantry Regiment, Marine Division (Royal Thai Marine Corps)
  • 9th Marine Battalion, King's Guard, 3rd Infantry Regiment, Marine Division (Royal Thai Marine Corps)
• Royal Thai Air Force:
  • Air Cadet Regiment, King's Guard (Cadet students of the Royal Air Force Academy)
  • RTAF Security Force Regiment, King's Guard
  • Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, King's Guard
  • 201st Air Force Squadron, King's Guard
  • 602st Air Force Squadron, King's Guard

Ukraine

United Kingdom

• Guards Division.
  • Foot Guards
    • Grenadier Guards
    • Coldstream Guards
    • Scots Guards
    • Irish Guards
    • Welsh Guards
  • Cavalry
    • Life Guards
    • Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) .
• Royal Armoured Corps
  • 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards
  • Royal Dragoon Guards
  • Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Vietnam

• Vietnam People's Army:
  • Vietnam Border Guard: border protection
  • Vietnam Coast Guard: coast protection
• General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army:
  • 144th Guarding Brigade: protective guards of Ministry of Defense headquarter, General Staff headquarter as well as national and international conferences ^[1]
  • Military Honor Guard Unit: honor guard during visits of foreign leaders, National Day parade, Military Memory days...^[2]
• Ministry of Defense:
  • Command of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Guard: protection of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum ^[3]

Historical

Bavaria

• Royal Bavarian Infantry Lifeguards Regiment

Byzantine

• Varangian Guard, a unit of the Byzantine emperor chiefly made up of troops of Scandinavian and North West European origin.

China

• Imperial Guards (Qing dynasty)
• Imperial Guards (Tang dynasty)
• Manchukuo Imperial Guards

East Germany

• Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment
• Friedrich Engels Guard Regiment
• Guard Regiment Hugo Eberlein

Ethiopia

• Kebur Zabagna ("Honorable Guard")

Finland

For Guards units before 1918, see Russian Empire.

France

• Garde du Corps
  • Garde Écossaise
• Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)
  • 1st Polish Light Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard
  • 2e régiment de chevau-légers lanciers de la Garde Impériale
  • Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale
  • Dragons de la Garde Impériale
  • Éclaireurs of the Guard
  • Gendarmes d'élite de la Garde Impériale
  • Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde Impériale
  • Lithuanian Tartars of the Imperial Guard
  • Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard
• Imperial Guard (Napoleon III)
  • Cent-gardes Squadron

German Empire

• Guards Corps
  • Guards Cavalry Division
  • 1st Guards Infantry Division
  • 2nd Guards Infantry Division
• Guards Reserve Corps
  • 3rd Guards Infantry Division
  • 1st Guards Reserve Division
• 4th Guards Infantry Division
  • 5th Guards Infantry Brigade
  • Guards Reserve Uhlans
  • 2nd Guards Field Artillery
• 5th Guards Infantry Division
• 2nd Guards Reserve Division
• Guard Ersatz Division

Iran

• Imperial Guard

Japan

• Imperial Guard (Imperial Japanese Army, 1867–1945)

Morocco

• Black Guard

Prussia

• Guards Corps

Cavalry

• Gardes du Corps, also known as the "Prussian Guard" a Prussian formation until 1918
• 1st (Silesian) Life Cuirassiers "Great Elector"
• 1st (Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland) Guards Dragoons
• 2nd (Empress Alexandra of Russia) Guards Dragoons
• 1st Guards Uhlans
• 2nd Guards Uhlans
• 3rd Guards Uhlans
• Life Guards Hussars

Infantry(each of the Foot Guards and four of the Guards Grenadiers would form reserve (Landwehr) units upon mobilization in August 1914)

• 1st Foot Guards
• 2nd Foot Guards
• 3rd Foot Guards
• 4th Foot Guards
• 5th Foot Guards
• 1st (Emperor Alexander) Guards Grenadiers
• 2nd (Emperor Francis) Guards Grenadiers
• 3rd (Queen Elizabeth) Guards Grenadiers
• 4th (Queen Augusta) Guards Grenadiers
• 5th Guards Grenadiers
• Guards Fusiliers
• Guards Jäger Battalion
• Palace Guards Company
• 1st Guards Machine Gun Detachment
• 2nd Guards Machine Gun Detachment

Artillery

• 1st Guards Field Artillery
• 2nd Guards Field Artillery
• 3rd Guards Field Artillery
• 4th Guards Field Artillery
• Guards Foot Artillery

Support units

• Guards Engineers
• Guards Trains

Papal States

• Corsican Guard
• Noble Guard
• Palatine Guard

Poland

• Royal Guards

Portugal

• Royal Guard of the Archers

Roman Empire

• Praetorian Guard

Russian Empire

• Imperial Guard
  • 1st Guard Cavalry Division
  • 1st Guards Infantry Division
  • 2nd Guard Cavalry division
  • 3rd Guard Infantry Division
  • Chevalier Guard Regiment
  • Egersky Guards Regiment
  • Finland Guard Regiment
  • Finnish Guards' Rifle Battalion
  • Moscow Guard Regiment

Saxony

• 1st Royal Saxon Guards Heavy Cavalry

Soviet Union

• Guards unit, a type of military unit of the former Soviet Union

Spanish Netherlands

• Walloon Guards

Sri Lanka

• President's Guard

Sweden

• Life Guard Dragoons

United Kingdom

• 1st Regiment of Life Guards
• 2nd Regiment of Life Guards
• Royal Horse Guards - predecessor unit to the Blues and Royals
• 1st King's Dragoon Guards -1959
• 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) -1922
• 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) 1746-1922
• 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards -1922
• 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards 1788-1922
• Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) 1788-1922
• 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards -1922
• 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards 1959-
• 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) 1922-1971 (also known as "3rd/6th Dragoon Guards")
• 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards 1922-1992
• 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards 192-
• Horse Grenadier Guards 1687 - 1788
• Horse Guards Regiment - a number of temporary regiments carried this name.
  • 1st Troop of Horse Guards
• Guards Machine Gun Regiment
• Royal Guards Reserve Regiment

Organizational units

• Brigade of Guards
• Guards Division
• Guards Armoured Division
• 1st Guards Brigade
• 2nd Guards Brigade
• 3rd Guards Brigade
• 4th Guards Brigade
• 5th Guards Armoured Brigade 1941-1945 (later 5th Guards Brigade)
• 6th Guards Tank Brigade (United Kingdom) 1941-1945 (later 6th Guards Brigade)
• 20th Independent Infantry Brigade (Guards)
• 22nd Guards Brigade
• 32nd Guards Infantry Brigade 1941-1945

Vatican

• Noble Guard

Vietnam

• Red Guards (Tự vệ Đỏ) is the precursor force of Vietnam's today police. The Red Guards were formed by Indochinese Communist Party in 1930 - 1931, during Nghệ-Tĩnh uprising against French rule.

Notes

1. http://soha.vn/quan-su/xong-dat-linh-dac-nhiem-lu-doan-144-20140205114721819.htm
2. http://baotintuc.vn/dau-an-su-kien/doan-nghi-le-quan-doi-nghe-si-chien-si-lam-nhiem-vu-dac-biet-20140818221201828.htm
3. http://www.bqllang.gov.vn/

References

Philip Mansel, Pillars of Monarchy: An Outline of the Political and Social History of Royal Guards 1400-1984, ISBN 0-7043-2424-5