Republican Guard (France)

Republican Guard
Garde républicaine
Emblem of the Republican Guard[1]
Active1848–present
Country France
BranchNational Gendarmerie
TypeInfantry
Cavalry
RoleHonour Guard
Security
Size3,300
(Brigade of three regiments)
Garrison/HQParis
MarchDefile de la Garde Républicaine
March of the 1st Infantry Regiment (1st Infantry Regiment)
Decorations Légion d'honneur
Croix de Guerre TOE
WebsiteOfficial website (in French)

The Republican Guard (French: Garde républicaine, [ɡaʁd ʁepyblikɛn]) 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.

Its missions include guarding important public buildings in Paris, such as the Élysée Palace (the residence of the President of the French Republic), the Hôtel Matignon (the residence of the Prime Minister of France), the Luxembourg Palace (the Senate), the Palais Bourbon (the National Assembly) and the Palais de Justice, as well as keeping public order in Paris. Ceremonial and security services for the highest national personalities and important foreign guests, military ceremonies and guards of honour for fallen soldiers, support of other law enforcement forces with intervention teams, as well as staffing horseback patrol stations (particularly for the forests of the Île-de-France region) are also part of its duties.

The close physical protection of the President of the Republic is entrusted to the Security Group for the Presidency of the Republic (GSP), a mixed police–gendarmerie unit that is not part of the Republican Guard. However, the Republican Guard does provide counter-sniper teams (Tireurs d'élite Gendarmerie or TEG) and intervention platoons (pelotons d'intervention). The Republican Guard also represents France at international events at home and abroad.

  1. ^ "Renseignements". Garde républicaine. Retrieved 2022-03-20.