Foot guards are senior infantry regiments within the British Army and the Canadian Army whose primary role includes military and combat operations, while its secondary role include public duties responsibilities which reflect their senior status.[1][2] Foot guards regiments were historically infantry soldiers who fought on foot who also performed public duties like mounting a guard.[3]
The British foot guards were established in the 17th century, and served as an infantry unit and royal guards for the monarchy. In the 19th century, the Canadian foot guard were formed, modelled after their British counterparts as a reflection of Canada’s relationship with the monarchy and to undertake ceremonial duties in Ottawa. Historically, other countries have also maintained units called "foot guards," though not all of these were the senior infantry regiments of their forces or were units that were tasked with both military combat responsibilities with ceremonial public duties.
As of 2024[update], the British Army maintains five regiments of foot guards, while the Canadian Army Reserve maintains two regiments of foot guards. While most foot guard units continue to serve in light infantry or infantry roles, two of the five British foot guards regiments have transitioned to mechanised infantry roles.
The oldest foot guards regiment dates back to 1642. Foot guards units have historically been front-line troops, with their ceremonial public duties always being a secondary function. As royal guards to the British monarchy, the foot guards have accumulated unique privileges and traditions over its existence.[4] The reigning British monarch traditionally serves as the colonel-in-chief of the regiments within the Household Division.[5]
The three oldest regiments—the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, and Scots Guards—were formed during the English Civil War, while the Irish Guards and Welsh Guards were established in the 20th century. The Irish Guards were created in 1900 after Queen Victoria was impressed by the actions of Irish units during the Second Boer War. The Welsh Guards were formed in 1915 by King George V, after it was pointed out that the Household Division lacked representation from Wales.[4] A sixth regiment of foot guards briefly existed after the First World War, the Guards Machine Gun Regiment.[5]
The Royal Regiment of Canada is another Army Reserve unit that is uniformed as a regiment of foot guards, although they are formally a line infantry regiment.[6] The regiment adopted the uniform of its predecessor, the Royal Grenadiers, which was uniformed after the British Grenadier Guards.[9]
The Canadian Army Regular Force also established a foot guard regiment in 1953, known as the Canadian Guards. However, the unit was reduced to nil strength in 1970 and reassigned to the army's Supplementary Order of Battle.[10]
Public duties
Along with their infantry role, the two regiments of foot guards are also tasked with ceremonial public duties at Rideau Hall and Parliament Hill in Ottawa as the country's household troops.[2][7][8] While both units perform public duties in the capital, only the Governor General's Foot Guards are based in Ottawa, with the Canadian Grenadier Guards based in Montreal.[2][7]
In addition to supporting ceremonial duties at Rideau Hall and other events for the Governor General of Canada, the Governor General's Foot Guards' Public Duties Company also oversees the Ceremonial Guard. The Ceremonial Guard is a subunit of the Governor General's Foot Guards that operates during the summer and is open to members of the Canadian Armed Forces who want to participate in ceremonial public duties. Service members in the Ceremonial Guard wear the uniforms of the two Canadian foot guard regiments, regardless of their actual regimental or unit affiliation, as they perform public duties traditionally carried out by the foot guard regiments.[8]
The hatamoto were high-ranking samurai who served as personally served the daimyo in feudal Japan during the Tokugawa shogunate that included a subgroup called the kachi or "Foot Guards", and the umamawari-shū or "Horse Guards". However, only the umamawari-shū were tasked as bodyguards for the daimyo, while the kachi were not assigned ceremonial duties and engaged in combat as part of their training for higher positions.[12]
A grenadier was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited from among the strongest and largest soldiers. By the 18th century, the grenadier dedicated to throwing hand grenades had become a less necessary specialist, yet in battle, the grenadiers were the physically robust soldiers who led vanguard assaults, such as storming fortifications in the course of siege warfare.
The Infantry of the British Army comprises 49 infantry battalions, from 19 regiments. Of these, 33 battalions are part of the Regular army and the remaining 16 a part of the Army Reserve. The British Army's Infantry takes on a variety of roles, including armoured, mechanised, air assault and light.
The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonial occasions. The Regiment has consistently provided formations on deployments around the world and has fought in the majority of the major conflicts in which the British Army has been engaged.
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.
The Household Division forms a part of the British Army's London District and is made up of five regiments of foot guards and two Household Cavalry regiments. The division is responsible for performing public duties and state ceremonies in London and Windsor. Such functions include the State Opening of Parliament, Trooping the Colour, and mounting the King's Guard.
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 Governor General's Horse Guards is an armoured cavalry regiment in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Army. The regiment is part of 4th Canadian Division's 32 Canadian Brigade Group and is based in Toronto, Ontario. It is the most senior reserve regiment in Canada, and the only household cavalry regiment of Canada's three household units.
The Canadian Grenadier Guards (CGG) is a reserve infantry regiment in the 34 Canadian Brigade Group, 2nd Canadian Division, of the Canadian Army. The regiment is the oldest and second-most-senior infantry regiment in the Primary Reserve of the Canadian Army. Located in Montreal, its main role is the provision of combat-ready light infantry troops in support of Canadian regular infantry. It is a Household Foot Guard regiment and also provides soldiers for public ceremonial duties, performing similar ceremonial duties as the Guards regiments of the British Army. This primarily entails mounting the guard at Government House, the King's and Governor General's residence, and performing the "Changing the Guard" ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a task it shares with Canada's senior Household Foot Guard regiment, the Governor General's Foot Guards of Ottawa. The Canadian Grenadier Guards is an allied regiment to the British Grenadier Guards.
The Governor General's Foot Guards (GGFG) is the senior reserve infantry regiment in the Canadian Army. Located in Ottawa at the Cartier Square Drill Hall, the regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry unit, and the members are part-time soldiers.
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.
A bearskin is a tall fur cap derived from mitre caps worn by grenadier units in the 17th and 18th centuries. Initially worn by only grenadiers, bearskins were later used by several other military units in the 19th century. The bearskin cap continued to see use in battle during the mid-19th century, although by the 20th century, it was only used for parade dress. In the 21st century, the bearskin cap is retained by select military units as a prominent element of their ceremonial and full dress uniforms.
The Canadian Guards was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army that served in the same role as the five regiments of foot guards in the British Army. The regiment was formed on 16 October 1953, by Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, the Chief of the General Staff of the Canadian Army, with the redesignation of four separate battalions:
The Ceremonial Guard is an ad hoc military unit in the Canadian Armed Forces that performs the changing the guard ceremony on Parliament Hill and posts sentries at Rideau Hall, with the National War Memorial being sentried by the National Sentry Program (NSP), which is carried out by different regiments and other units in order of precedence throughout the summer until mid-November.
Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role.
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 relationship between the Canadian Crown and the Canadian Armed Forces is both constitutional and ceremonial, with the King of Canada being the commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces and he and other members of the Canadian royal family holding honorary positions in various branches and regiments, embodying the historical relationship of the Crown with its armed forces. This construct stems from Canada's system of constitutional monarchy and through its 500 years of monarchical history, the relationship symbolically represented through royal symbols, such as crowns on military badges and insignia, coats of arms, royal portraits, and the grant of the royal prefix to various military units and institutions. The role of the Canadian sovereign within the Canadian Armed Forces is established within the Canadian constitution, the National Defence Act, and the King's Regulations and Orders (KR&Os) for the Canadian Forces.
The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.
The Band of the Ceremonial Guard is an ad hoc military band that is attached to the Canadian Forces Ceremonial Guard in Ottawa. All members of the band are fully trained members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and consists of personnel principally from the two Foot Guards regiments and has even since 2007 been manned by a pan–Canadian Forces approach that is inclusive to musicians from the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force. The band forms a separate company within the CG and rely on the Headquarters Company for administration and support personnel. In full composition, the band is active from April to August.
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