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. N ...

, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, 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. 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 fore ...

* Algerian Republican Guard * 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- ...

, 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 f ...

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 1st A ...

* Egyptian Republican Guard * 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. It ...

— 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. ...

. 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. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Minis ...

. * 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 unit ...

* 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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. *

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 ''*sunþa ...

* Sudanese Republican Guard * Syrian Republican Guard * Yemeni Republican Guard

Defunct republican guards

* Dutch Blue Guards (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 — 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 The Italian National Republican Guard (''Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana'', or GNR) was a gendarmerie force of the Italian Social Republic created by decree on December 8, 1943, replacing the Carabinieri and the National Security Volunteer Mili ...

(defunct) *

Peruvian Republican Guard The Republican Guard of Peru ( es, Guardia Republicana del Perú) was a branch of the Peruvian National Gendarmerie responsible for providing security to the headquarters of public institutions and penitentiary establishments, as well as border co ...

(defunct) * Moldovan Republican Guard (defunct) * Transnistrian Republican Guard (defunct) * Spanish National Republican Guard (defunct)

Active republican guard units

Defunct republican guards

See also