State Presidents Guard

Last updated

State President‘s Guard
Staatspresident Wag Eenheid
StatesPresidentsGuard Guardsman.jpg
State President's Guard Guardsman in full dress
Active1967 1990
CountryFlag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa
Allegiance President of South Africa
BranchEnsign of the South African Defence Force (1981-1994).svg  South African Army
Type Honour Guards
RoleCeremonial Duties
Garrison/HQ Pretoria
Motto(s)Vires
Insignia
Unit Flash SADF State Presidents Guard emblem.jpg
Cap badge SADF State President Guard Ceremonial cap badge.jpg
External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg State President's Unit 1988

The State President's Guard [1] (Staatspresident Wag Eenheid) was the previous name of the National Ceremonial Guard, a guard unit for the South African State President and guard of honour at ceremonial occasions.

Contents

History

Until and throughout State President Charles Robberts Swart's term of office, no permanent Guard existed. On his retirement from office on 31 May 1967, plans were made for the Guard to appear in public for the first time. The unit was established officially on 1 May 1967 and an effort was made to train the specially selected servicemen who would form this guard of honour. Special uniforms were manufactured. [2] :5 Due to the State President elect's illness, the Guard could only make its first public appearance eight months later at his State funeral. [2] :5

President P. W. Botha changed the name of the unit to the "State President's Unit" in 1983. [3] It has been through some changes of name as well as being temporarily disbanded ahead of negotiations that led to the first democratic elections in 1994 and is now called the National Ceremonial Guard (NCG). [4]

Function

The most important ceremonial function of the State President's Guard was that of guard of honour. Appearances of the Guard in this capacity included the following:

Regular performances also took place at occasions when foreign ambassadors presented their credentials to the State President. Other appearances were when national states officially gain independence. In addition, the Guard also performed at the official arrival and departure of the State President from various cities, especially those cities in which his official residences were situated.

The Unit was also responsible for a weekly changing of the guard parade on Fridays at Tuynhuys in Cape Town while Parliament was in session. At the end of each month, a retreat ceremony was held by the Unit at a public venue. Similar parades were held at the Castle, Grand Parade in Cape Town and at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

Symbols

Colours

On 28 April 1988, history was made by the guard as it became the first unit in the SADF to be awarded National Colours together with unit Colours in a Presentation of Colours ceremony. "National Colours" (Nasionale Vaandel), serve the same purpose as King's colours in the British Army as well as "Presidential Colors" in India and other Commonwealth republics. [5]

SADF State President's Guard Commemorative Letter. SADF State President 's Unit Commemorative Letter.jpg
SADF State President's Guard Commemorative Letter.

Uniform

Insignia

See also

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Colour guard</span> Type of military unit

    In military organizations, a colour guard is a detachment of soldiers assigned to the protection of regimental colours and the national flag. This duty is highly prestigious, and the military colour is generally carried by a young officer (ensign), while experienced non-commissioned officers are assigned to the protection of the national flag. These non-commissioned officers, accompanied in several countries by warrant officers, can be ceremonially armed with either sabres or rifles to protect the colour. Colour guards are generally dismounted, but there are also mounted colour guard formations as well.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Foot guards</span> Senior infantry regiments in some militaries

    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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Military uniform</span> Standardised military dress

    A military uniform is a standardised dress worn by members of the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Bearskin</span> Style of cap made from bearskin

    A bearskin is a tall fur cap, usually worn as part of a ceremonial military uniform. Traditionally, the bearskin was the headgear of grenadiers, and remains in use by grenadier and guards regiments in various armies.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Pith helmet</span> Lightweight cloth-covered helmet

    The pith helmet, also known as the safari helmet, salacot, sola topee, sun helmet, topee, and topi is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet originates from the Spanish military adaptation of the native salakot headgear of the Philippines.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Guards</span> National household regiment in the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps

    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:

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Town Highlanders</span> Military unit

    The Cape Town Highlanders is a reserve mechanised infantry regiment of the South African Army.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">SAF Military Police Command</span> Military police of Singapore

    The SAF Military Police Command is the military police formation of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Established as the Singapore Armed Forces Provost Unit (SAFPU) in 1966, its primary role is to police duties to uphold standards of discipline within the SAF, and to provide security coverage for key SAF military installations and the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) headquarters at Bukit Gombak.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Full dress uniform</span> Uniform for wear on formal occasions

    Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is the most formal type of uniforms used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, including private ones such as marriages and funerals. Full dress uniforms typically include full-size orders and medals insignia. Styles tend to originate from 19th century uniforms, although the 20th century saw the adoption of mess dress-styled full-dress uniforms. Designs may depend on regiment or service branch. In Western dress codes, full dress uniform is a permitted supplementary alternative equivalent to the civilian white tie for evening wear or morning dress for day wear – sometimes collectively called full dress – although military uniforms are the same for day and evening wear. As such, full dress uniform is the most formal uniform, followed by the mess dress uniform.

    The uniforms of the Canadian Armed Forces are the official dress worn by members of Canada's military while on duty.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Uniforms of the British Army</span> Military dress

    The uniforms of the British Army currently exist in twelve categories ranging from ceremonial uniforms to combat dress. Uniforms in the British Army are specific to the regiment to which a soldier belongs. Full dress presents the most differentiation between units, and there are fewer regimental distinctions between ceremonial dress, service dress, barrack dress and combat dress, though a level of regimental distinction runs throughout.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Guard of honour</span> Military honour guard unit

    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. However, 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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka Police Mounted Division</span> Division of the Sri Lanka Police

    The Sri Lanka Police Mounted Division is the mounted division of the Sri Lanka Police. The responsibility of the division is to conduct safe policing of crowd control at large public order events and provide ceremonial escorts. The police mounted division is under purview of the DIG - Colombo Range and control of a SSP - Mounted Division and has a strength of two Inspectors, four Sub-Inspectors, 10 sergeants, 34 constables with 60 horses.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Uniforms of the Royal Marines</span>

    The Royal Marines uniform is the standardised military dress worn by members of the Royal Marines.

    The uniforms of the Australian Army have changed significantly over the past century, although the accoutrements worn over this period have remained relatively similar. The forces of the Australian colonies and the early forces of the Commonwealth post-Federation in 1901 closely followed the uniforms of the British Army. Since then it has continued to be influenced by British but also US styles, as well as including some distinctly Australian designs, reflecting local conditions and trends.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">115 Battalion</span> Military unit

    115 South African Infantry Battalion was a motorised infantry unit of the South African Army.

    The Governor's Bodyguard were the household cavalry troop of the Governor of Ceylon.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Uniforms of the Russian Armed Forces</span>

    The extensive system of uniforms of the Russian Armed Forces was inherited from the Soviet Armed Forces and modified across the years.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">15 Reception Depot</span> Military unit

    15 Reception Depot was an administrative unit of the Personnel Service Corps of the South African Army.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">National Ceremonial Guard</span> Military unit

    The National Ceremonial Guard (NCG) is an honor guard battalion of the South African National Defence Force serving during ceremonies involving the President of South Africa, Deputy President of South Africa, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and the Chief of the South African National Defence Force. It is composed of a guard of honour, a drill team, and a military band.

    References

    1. "Scientia Militaria". South African Journal of Military Studies. 16 (5). 1986.
    2. 1 2 Wilken, Neels (July 1977). "Guard turns 10". Panorama. Information Service of South Africa. 22 (7) via Internet Archive.
    3. "State President's Guard". 15 March 2018. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018. The unit was formed in 1967, at the request of outgoing state president Swart. It was called the State President's Guard, and it wore the plumed shako with the presidential emblem (the national coat of arms with the letters SP above). President Botha changed the name to "State President's Unit" in 1983, and later 1987, the ceremonial uniform was changed to ordinary service dress, with a "pith helmet" as headdress. This was in preference to a new full dress uniform which had been designed: it consisted of a Brown tunic with orange facings, white trousers, and a white Pith helmet President Mandela disbanded the unit. In the late 1990s, in its present form, it became known as the "National Ceremonial Guard".
    4. Helfrich, Kim (16 August 2017). "The National Ceremonial Guard – not only a precision drill showcase". DefenceWeb. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
    5. "SADF.info". sadf.info. Retrieved 2023-01-03.