1st Infantry Republican Guard Bastille Day 2008

A republican guard, sometimes called a

national guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

, is a state organization of a country (often a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous with a

presidential guard Presidential Guard may refer to: *President Guard Regiment (Bangladesh) *Presidential Guard Regiment (Turkey) *Presidential Guard (Greece) *Presidential Guard (Belarus) *Presidential Guard (South Vietnam) *President's Own Guard Regiment (Ghana) * ...

. The term is derived from the original French Gendarmerie unit. Several other countries also have adopted the term and have active guard units.

Active republican guard units

Albanian Republican Guard The Republican Guard ( sq, Garda e Republikës) is a militarized government agency of Albania mandated by law to protect high-ranking state officials, including the President of Albania, as well as certain national properties, high-ranking forei ...

Algerian Republican Guard The Algerian Republican Guard ( ar, الحرس الجمهوري الجزائري, french: Garde républicaine algérienne), is a military corps of the Algerian army. It is under the direct authority of the President of Algeria. The Algerian Repub ...

* Central African Republican Guard — Made up of supporters of President

François Bozizé François Bozizé Yangouvonda (born 14 October 1946) is a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 2003 to 2013. Bozizé rose to become a high-ranking army officer in the 1970s, under the rule of Jean-B� ...

, who helped him rise to power in the

2003 Central African Republic coup d'état A coup d'état occurred in March 2003 in the Central African Republic when the forces of General François Bozizé marched on Bangui, the country's capital, while President Ange-Félix Patassé was at a regional conference in Niger. Background ...

. Its current status remains uncertain. * Congolese Republican Guard — Protects

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, Presi ...

of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. *

Republican Guard (Donetsk People's Republic) The 100th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Order of Republic Brigade (russian: 100-я отдельная гвардейская мотострелковая ордена Республики бригада, 100 омсбр) is military unit of Russia ...

Egyptian Republican Guard The Egyptian Republican Guard ( ar, قوات الحرس الجمهوري, El-Haras el-Gomhoury) is a Division level command within the Egyptian Army, designed to be an armored division with the main responsibilities of defending the President o ...

* Republican Guard (Ethiopia) *

French Republican Guard The Republican Guard (french: Garde républicaine) is part of the French National Gendarmerie. It is responsible for special security duties in the Paris area and for providing guards of honour at official ceremonies of the French Republic. Its ...

— The original Republican Guard, serves as an honor guard and defends

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Part of the

French Gendarmerie The National Gendarmerie (french: Gendarmerie nationale, ) is one of two national law enforcement forces of France, along with the National Police (France), National Police. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the ...

. * Gabonese Republican Guard * Guinean Republican Guard * Republican National Guard *

Ivorian Republican Guard The Ivorian Republican Guard (french: Garde républicaine de Côte d'Ivoire) is an independent military formation in the Ivory Coast that is responsible for protection of government officials and buildings. It is one of the most well equipped uni ...

* Kazakh Republican Guard — A separate branch of the

Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan The Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасының Қарулы Күштері, , russian: Вооружённые силы Республики Казахстан) is the unified armed forces of ...

. * Lebanese Republican Guard — A military force of the Directorate-General of the Presidency of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. *

Portuguese Republican National Guard The National Republican Guard ( pt, Guarda Nacional Republicana) or GNR is the national gendarmerie force of Portugal. Members of the GNR are military personnel, subject to military law and organisation, unlike the agents of the civilian Publi ...

Togolese Republican Guard The Gendarmerie nationale Togolaise (French for the ''Togolese National Gendarmerie'') is a branch of the Togolese Armed Forces. Its 2,710 gendarmes protect people and property in rural areas, control roads and communications and contribute to pr ...

South Ossetian Republican Guard South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

* Sudanese Republican Guard *

Syrian Republican Guard The Syrian Republican Guard ( ar, الْحَرَسُ الْجُمْهُورِيُّ, ''al-Ḥaras al-Jumhūriyy''), also known as the Presidential Guard, is an elite 25,000 man mechanized division, although it may actually approach corps size wi ...

Yemeni Republican Guard The Yemeni Republican Guard ( ar, الحرس الجمهوري اليمني), formerly called the Strategic Reserve Forces ( ar, قوات الاحتياطي الاستراتيجي) between 2013 and 2016, is an elite formation of the Yemen Army. I ...

Defunct republican guards

Dutch Blue Guards The Dutch Guards (), nicknamed the Blue Guards () in the late 17th century, were an elite infantry unit of the army of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the Dutch Republic. Origin In 1573, a company of Foot Guards was raised ...

(defunct) *

Iraqi Republican Guard Iraqi or Iraqis (in plural) means from Iraq, a country in the Middle East, and may refer to: * Iraqi people or Iraqis, people from Iraq or of Iraqi descent * A citizen of Iraq, see demographics of Iraq * Iraqi or Araghi ( fa, عراقی), someone o ...

(defunct) **

Iraqi Special Republican Guard The Iraqi Special Republican Guard (SRG) ( ar, الحرس الجمهوري الخاص ""Ḥaris al-‘Irāq al-Jamhūriyy al-Khas"), also known as the Special Forces Brigade of the Presidential Palace, Republican Guard Special Protection Forces, o ...

— A military force formed from the Iraqi Republican Guard and charged with

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

's protection. **

Fedayeen Saddam Fedayeen Saddam () was a paramilitary Fedayeen organization loyal to the Ba'athist Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. The name was chosen to mean "Saddam's Men of Sacrifice". At its height, the group had 30,000–40,000 members. Irregular force ...

– Paramilitary force loyal to Saddam Hussein. * Italian National Republican Guard (defunct) * Peruvian Republican Guard (defunct) * Moldovan Republican Guard (defunct) * Transnistrian Republican Guard (defunct) * Spanish National Republican Guard (defunct)

Active republican guard units

Defunct republican guards

See also