Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat with swords and firearms from horseback. While their use goes back to the late 16th century, dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the 17th and early 18th centuries; they provided greater mobility than regular infantry but were far less expensive than cavalry.
Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of Household Division, to celebrate the official birthday of the British sovereign. It is also known as the Sovereign's Birthday Parade. Similar events are held in other countries of the Commonwealth. In the UK, it is, with the State Opening of Parliament, the biggest event of the ceremonial calendar, and watched by millions on TV and on the streets of London.
In some militaries, foot guards are senior infantry regiments. Foot guards are commonly responsible for guarding royal families or other state leaders, and they also often perform ceremonial duties accordingly, but at the same time are combat soldiers.
The Household Cavalry (HCAV) is a corps of the Household Division, made up of the two most senior regiments of the British Army; The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals. They have taken part in every major conflict since 1660. These regiments are divided between the Household Cavalry Regiment stationed at Wing Barracks in Wiltshire, with an armored reconnaissance role, and the ceremonial mounted unit, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, garrisoned at Hyde Park Barracks in London. Both the HCMR and HCR are made up of elements of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. The Household Cavalry is part of the Household Division and is the King's official bodyguard. Although the Household Cavalry Regiment is armoured, it is not part of the Royal Armoured Corps, being assigned to the Household Division.
Guard mounting, changing the guard, or the changing of the guard, is a formal ceremony in which sentries performing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries. The ceremonies are often elaborate and precisely choreographed. They originated with peacetime and battlefield military drills introduced to enhance unit cohesion and effectiveness in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
The King's Guard are sentry postings at Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, organised by the British Army's Household Division. The Household Division also mounts sentry postings at Horse Guards, known as the King's Life Guard.
The Life Guards is a combined Swedish Army cavalry/infantry regiment. Its responsibilities include the defence of Stockholm as well as provision of the royal guard of honour for the King of Sweden and the Stockholm Palace. With traditions dating from 1521, the regiment is one of the oldest military units in continuous operational existence in the world. It was established in its present form in July 2000, following a merger of the Svea Life Guards and the Life Guard Dragoons. Headquarters are mainly located in Brunna north of Kungsängen in Upplands-Bro Municipality and at the "Cavalry Barracks 1" in central Stockholm.
The Royal Guards is the King of Sweden's cavalry and infantry guards of honour of the Swedish Armed Forces, tasked with the protection of the Swedish royal family.
A royal guard is a group of military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal family member, such as a king or queen, or prince or princess. They often are an elite unit of the regular armed forces, or are designated as such, and may maintain special rights or privileges.
The Government Palace, also known as the House of Pizarro, is the seat of the executive branch of the Peruvian government, and the official residence of the president of Peru. The palace is a stately government building, occupying the northern side of the Plaza Mayor in Peru's capital city, Lima. Set on the Rímac River, the palace occupies the site of a very large huaca that incorporated a shrine to Taulichusco, the last kuraka of Lima.
The private secretary to the sovereign is the senior operational member of the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. The private secretary is the principal channel of communication between the monarch and the governments in most of the Commonwealth realms. They also have responsibility for the official programme and correspondence of the sovereign. Through these roles the position wields considerable influence. This is one of the most senior positions within the Royal Household.
The Gold Stick and the Silver Stick are formal bodyguard positions in the British Royal Household, serving as personal attendants to the Sovereign on ceremonial occasions.
Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role.
The Field Officer in Brigade Waiting holds an appointment in the Royal Household. Always a Foot Guards officer, he is required to be in attendance on particular occasions 'to receive the King's commands for the Foot Guards'. Each year, among other duties, the Field Officer in Brigade Waiting commands the King's Birthday Parade mounted on horseback. When dismounted he carries a distinctive baton as his insignia of office.
The British Army is listed according to an order of precedence for the purposes of parading. This is the order in which the various corps of the army parade, from right to left, with the unit at the extreme right being highest. Under ordinary circumstances, the Household Cavalry parades at the extreme right of the line. Militia and Army Reserve units take precedence after Regular units with the exception of The Honourable Artillery Company and The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers.
A guard of honour, honor guard 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 or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, especially funerals. In military weddings, especially those of commissioned officers, a guard, composed usually of service members of the same branch, form the sabre arch. In principle, any military unit could act as a guard of honour. In some countries, certain units are specially assigned to undertake guard of honour postings or other public duties. Republican guards, royal guards and foot guards frequently have ceremonial duties assigned to them.
The Royal Guard is an independent regiment of the Spanish Armed Forces that is dedicated to the protection of the King of Spain and members of the Spanish royal family. It currently has a strength of 1,500 troops. While the Guard participates in parades and other ceremonial events, it is a fully functional combat unit. Its members are recruited from the ranks of all three branches of the Spanish Armed Forces and receive the same combat training as regular soldiers.
The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the collective departments that support members of the British royal family. Many members of the royal family who undertake public duties have separate households. They vary considerably in size, from the large household that supports the sovereign to the household of the Prince and Princess of Wales, with fewer members.
The Thai Royal Guards parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, occurs every December 2 since 1953, in celebration of the birthday of the King of Thailand, during which the King's Guard of the Royal Thai Armed Forces perform a military parade and pledge loyalty to the monarch. The venue is the Royal Plaza at Bangkok, Thailand, in front of the Dusit Palace and its Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall.
