Patriotic Guards (Romania)

Patriotic Guards
Gărzile Patriotice
Flag of Patriotic Guards
Active1968–1989
CountrySocialist Republic of Romania
AllegianceRomanian Communist Party
TypeParamilitary
Size700,000 (1989)
Patriotic Guards were often equipped with World War II weapons. The fighter in the foreground is using a Czechoslovakian ZB vz. 30.

The Patriotic Guards (Romanian: Gărzile Patriotice) were paramilitary formations in the Socialist Republic of Romania from 1968 to 1989.

The Patriotic Guards were formed under Nicolae Ceaușescu as an armed force under the direct control of the Romanian Communist Party to provide additional defence and support in the event of an invasion of Romania. Membership included both men and women and adolescents as young as middle school age, with a peak of approximately 700,000 members across Romania in 1989.