The Mongolian State Honor Guard is an

honor guard A guard of honour (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state ...

unit of the

Armed Forces of Mongolia The Mongolian Armed Forces () is the collective name for the Mongolian military and the joint forces that comprise it. It is tasked with protecting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Mongolia. Defined as the peacetime co ...

. The Mongolian State Honor Guard was founded on 16 August 1955, as an honor guard unit of the People's Army of the

Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912� ...

Overview

The honor guard company's different units participate in all major events organized by the

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

, such as state arrival ceremonies for foreign

heads of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

(dignitaries such as

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

and

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

), government and military delegations during their official visits to

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

, as well as a large number of other diverse events. Domestically, another major event is the annual

Mongolian State Flag Day State Flag Day () is the main state holiday in Mongolia, being celebrated annually on July 10. State Flag Day is celebrated with a central government-sponsored events including a military parade and a flag raising ceremony on Sükhbaatar Square in ...

parade on

Sükhbaatar Square Sükhbaatar Square (, ''Sükhbaataryn talbai'') is the central square of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The square was named for Mongolian revolutionary hero Damdin Sükhbaatar after his death in 1923, and features a monumental equestrian ...

. It also had taken part in the anniversaries of the

Battles of Khalkhin Gol The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (; ) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolian People's Republic, Mongolia, Empire of Japan, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict wa ...

and the

Khaan Quest Khaan Quest () is an annual military exercise held in Mongolia for a week in the summer. It brings together over a dozen foreign militaries to engage in the sharing of practices for multinational peacekeeping operations. In the exercise, personnel ...

military exercise. In 2015, the guard of honor took part in over 200 ceremonial events, including the

Moscow Victory Day Parade The Moscow Victory Day Parade () is an annual military parade of the Russian Armed Forces on Moscow's Red Square on 9 May during the Victory Day celebrations. The most important parade of those being held on 9 May is the one held on Moscow's Red ...

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...

. Members of the unit are required to be tall and have good physical traits. It is the only unit authorized to carry a ceremonial white

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

as its unit colour on parade.

Uniform

While Mongolia was under a socialist government, the unit's uniform did not differ much from the

full dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is among the most formal wear, formal type of uniform used by military, police, firefighter, fire and other public uniformed services for official parade (mili ...

of the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

. After 1991, the uniforms from the era of

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

and the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

came back into style within the armed forces.{{Cite web, url=https://ria.ru/20190903/1558188867.html, title=В Улан-Баторе Путина встретили оркестром и ротой почетного караула, date=3 September 2019 Today, the uniform of the guard is based on the garment of the personal guard of the

Great Khan Khagan or Qaghan ( Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of imperial ...

. Throughout the years, the unit uniform has been changed 3 times: in 1970, 2006, and 2011.

Gallery

File:Mongolian_police_in_traditional_uniform.JPG, Mongolian State Honor Guard personnel in traditional uniform during the 800th anniversary of the founding of the

Mongolian Empire The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, extending northward into parts of t ...

in 2006. File:The_Mongolian_honor_guard_braves_the_cold_to_welcome_Mr._Myers.jpg, The honor guard during the arrival ceremony for

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

General Richard B. Myers visit to Mongolia in 2004. File:Министр_обороны_России_провел_в_Улан-Баторе_01.jpg,

Sergey Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu; , . (born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and military officer who has served as secretary of the Security Council since 2024. He served as Minister of Defence of Russia from 2012 to 2024. Shoigu has served ...

and Nyamaagiin Enkhbold inspecting the guard in October 2018. File:U.S._Defense_Secretary_Chuck_Hagel,_right,_walks_in_a_pass-and-review_ceremony_with_Mongolian_Defense_Minister_Dashdemberal_Bat-Erdene_during_an_honor_cordon_at_the_Mongolian_Ministry_of_Defense_in_Ulaanbaatar_140410-D-BW835-102b.jpg, Defense Secretary

Chuck Hagel Charles Timothy Hagel ( ; born October 4, 1946)cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

unit of the guard being escorted by

local police Municipal police, city police, or local police are Law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the Municipality, municipal government, where it is the smallest Administ ...

during a procession to

Naadam Naadam (Mongolian Naadam Festival) (, classical Mongolian: ''Naɣadum'', , ''literally "games"'') is a traditional festival celebrated in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Tuva. The festival is also locally termed "eriin gurvan naadam" (), "the three ...

. File:Mongolian_flag_bearer.jpeg, A unit flag bearer in Moscow.

References

External links

Photos of the unit.
Military units and formations of Mongolia Guards of honour 1955 establishments in Mongolia Military units and formations established in 1955

Overview

Uniform

Gallery

See also

References

External links