The National Ceremonial Guard (NCG) is an

honor guard A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

battalion of the

South African National Defence Force The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprises the Military, armed forces of South Africa. The commander of the SANDF is appointed by the President of South Africa from one of the Military branch, armed services. They are in turn a ...

serving during ceremonies involving the

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nationa ...

Deputy President of South Africa The deputy president of South Africa is the deputy to the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa and is a member of the National Assembly and the Cabinet. The deputy president is constitutionally required to "assi ...

Minister of Defence and Military Veterans The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans (formerly the Minister of Defence) is a Minister in the Government of South Africa, who is responsible for overseeing the Department of Defence, the Department of Military Veterans and the South Afr ...

and the

Chief of the South African National Defence Force The Chief of the South African National Defence Force is the most senior South African military officer and the professional Head of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The Chief is appointed by the President of South Africa. T ...

. It is composed of a

guard of honour A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

, a drill team, and a military band.

History

The unit was originally founded in May 1967 as the

State Presidents Guard The State President's Guard () was the previous name of the National Ceremonial Guard, a guard unit for the South African State President and guard of honour at ceremonial occasions. History Until and throughout State President Charles Robbert ...

when

Charles Robberts Swart Charles Robberts Swart (5 December 1894 – 16 July 1982), nicknamed ''Blackie'', was a South African politician who served as the last governor-general of the Union of South Africa from 1959 to 1961 and the first state president of the Republ ...

was the

State President of South Africa The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...

. It was dissolved in 1990 ahead of the first democratic elections in 1994. The unit was rebranded in September 1996 as the National Ceremonial Guard. The NCG's old uniform of dark green tunic with black pants was reinstated after it was reestablished. In April 2008, the NCG moved into the Sebokeng Military Complex by order of the president.

Functions

Vladimir Putin arrived in South Africa (3)

The NCG takes part official state functions such as the opening of Parliament, and the welcoming ceremonies of visits by international leaders and statesmen to South Africa. It also provides guards of honour at inaugurations of Presidents, state funerals and certain national monuments.

NCG Band

The NCG Band is the

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

unit attached to the NCG. It currently serves as the senior most band of the entire SANDF. Both the NCG and its military band have been sent to different countries to perform in military tattoos and other international events. Since 2001, the band has undertaken the role of training military bandsmen from

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

Regalia

Insignia

Head Dress

NCO Rank

Uniforms

External links

SONA 2013 Behind the Scenes: National Ceremonial Guard and Military Band

National Ceremonial Guard Band

National Ceremonial Guard held a full dress rehearsal in CT

References

{{SA Army Units 1996 establishments in South Africa Regiments of South Africa Military units and formations in Pretoria South African ceremonial units