The Guards Division: Britain’s Elite Household Troops

The Five Regiments of Foot Guards

The Household Division’s infantry component comprises five regiments of Foot Guards, each with its own distinctive traditions, cap badge, and button spacing. Together they form one of the most recognisable military forces in the world — famous for ceremonial duties at Buckingham Palace but equally renowned as formidable fighting soldiers.

The button spacing rule is the classic way to identify which regiment a Guardsman belongs to — a useful tip for collectors identifying tunic buttons and insignia.

Historical Overview

Origins: The English Civil War

The oldest Foot Guards regiments date from the mid-17th century. The Coldstream Guards were originally raised by General Monck in 1650 as part of Cromwell’s New Model Army, later switching allegiance to Charles II during the Restoration. The Grenadier Guards (originally the Royal Regiment of Guards) were formed in 1656 to protect the exiled Charles II in Bruges. This seniority dispute has been a friendly rivalry for 370 years — the Coldstream motto is Nulli Secundus (“Second to None”), a pointed refusal to be called the “Second” Guards.

The Scots Guards trace their lineage even further, to 1642, when they were raised by the Marquess of Argyll as the Marquess of Argyll’s Royal Regiment. They received the title “Scots Guards” in 1877. The Irish Guards were raised on 1 April 1900 by order of Queen Victoria, to commemorate the valour of Irish soldiers in the Boer War. The Welsh Guards, the youngest regiment, were created on 26 February 1915 — the only Foot Guards regiment raised during wartime.

The Napoleonic Wars

The Guards earned lasting fame at Waterloo (1815). The Grenadier Guards defeated the French Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard in the climactic attack of the battle, earning the right to the bearskin cap and the title “Grenadier.” The Coldstream and Scots Guards held the critical position at Hougoumont farmhouse for an entire day against repeated French attacks — Wellington later said that the battle turned on the closing of those gates. The farm defence is now recognised as one of the most significant small-unit actions in military history.

The Crimean War and Victorian Campaigns

The Guards Brigade fought at the Alma (1854), Inkerman (1854), and the Siege of Sevastopol. At Inkerman — the “Soldiers’ Battle” fought in fog — the Guards held the critical Sandbag Battery against overwhelming Russian numbers. The Coldstream Guards lost 190 men killed and wounded in a single morning. After the Crimea, Guards battalions served in Egypt (1882), including the Battle of Tel el-Kebir, and in the Sudan campaign.

World War I

The Guards Division was formed in August 1915, comprising battalions from all five Foot Guards regiments (the Welsh Guards having been created that same year). The Division fought at Loos, the Somme (where they attacked at Flers-Courcelette and Morval), Passchendaele, and the Battle of Cambrai, sustaining over 16,000 casualties. Guards NCOs and officers also served as training cadre for the rapidly expanding Kitchener armies.

Individual Guards battalions also served outside the Division. The 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards, for instance, served with 3rd Guards Brigade before the Division was formed. The Guards’ reputation for discipline under fire was such that they were regularly used as “assault troops” for critical attacks.

World War II

The Guards Armoured Division was formed in 1941 — an unusual step for infantry regiments, converting Guardsmen to tank crews. It fought from Normandy through Operation Market Garden (where the Irish Guards Group famously led XXX Corps up the single highway toward Arnhem, a story immortalised in Cornelius Ryan’s A Bridge Too Far) to the Rhine crossing and the liberation of the northern Netherlands.

The 6th Guards Tank Brigade served in the Italian campaign, while infantry battalions of the Guards fought throughout North-West Europe. At Nijmegen in September 1944, the Grenadier Guards captured the vital road bridge in a daring assault, crossing in canvas boats under fire — only to find the advance stalled at Arnhem above them.

Post-War

The Guards have served in every significant British deployment since 1945: Malaya, Cyprus, Aden, Northern Ireland (where Guards battalions conducted numerous emergency tours), the Falklands (Scots Guards at Mount Tumbledown, Welsh Guards tragically hit by Argentine air attack at Bluff Cove), Iraq (Irish Guards were among the first troops into Basra in 2003), and Afghanistan (where multiple Guards battalions deployed to Helmand Province between 2007 and 2014). In 2023, 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards deployed to Estonia as part of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence.

Cap Badges and Insignia

Each regiment has a distinctive cap badge worn on the bearskin and the forage cap:

• Grenadier Guards — A flaming grenade (the “Grenade Fired Proper”), the most iconic Guards badge. The design has remained essentially unchanged since the 18th century.
• Coldstream Guards — The Star of the Order of the Garter, with the Coldstream motto Nulli Secundus
• Scots Guards — The Star of the Order of the Thistle, surmounted by the Imperial Crown
• Irish Guards — The Star of the Order of St Patrick, incorporating the shamrock. First issued in 1900.
• Welsh Guards — The leek, surmounted by the Crown. The simplest Guards badge but immediately recognisable.

Button spacing, as noted above, varies by regiment and is the quickest identification method on tunics, greatcoats, and mess dress. Officers’ buttons are gilt; other ranks’ were brass (now anodised aluminium). Victorian and Edwardian-era officers’ buttons in heavy gilt are particularly sought after by collectors.

The Bearskin

The tall bearskin cap is the most visually striking element of Guards ceremonial dress. Made from the fur of the Canadian black bear, each cap stands approximately 18 inches tall and weighs about 1.5 pounds. The bearskin was originally worn by grenadier companies as a mark of elite status — after Waterloo, where the Grenadiers defeated Napoleon’s Imperial Guard, its use was extended to all Guards regiments on ceremonial occasions.

Distinction between regiments on the bearskin is by the plume (colour and side, as per the table above) and the cap star. The Scots Guards wear no plume at all — the easiest identification at Trooping the Colour. Bearskins are expensive to maintain and rarely appear on the collectors’ market; when they do, they command significant prices.

Collecting Guards Militaria

Guards items are among the most collected British military badges and insignia. Popular areas include:

• Cap badges — officer quality (gilt and silver) command premiums over bronze OR’s badges. Georgian and early Victorian examples are particularly prized.
• Buttons — both tunic buttons and shoulder belt plates. Pre-1900 examples in gilt are highly prized. The button spacing distinction makes complete tunic sets especially interesting.
• Bearskins — rarely available but spectacular display pieces
• Guard Order medals — groups with Guards service are consistently sought after. A Waterloo Medal to the Grenadier Guards, identifiable by the roll, is among the most valuable British campaign medals.
• WW1/WW2 Guards Division formation signs and shoulder titles — the Guards Division “Ever Open Eye” formation sign (a blue eye on a white background) is a distinctive cloth badge.

The Guards’ long and continuous history means material spans four centuries. Collectors can build a fascinating collection tracing the evolution of a single regiment from the 17th century to the present day.

Ceremonial Duties

The Guards’ ceremonial role is integral to their identity. Trooping the Colour, the Sovereign’s official birthday parade held in June on Horse Guards Parade, sees all five Foot Guards regiments on display. Each year one regiment’s Colour is “trooped” — paraded before the ranks so every soldier can recognise it in battle (the original practical purpose, now purely ceremonial). The parade involves approximately 1,400 officers and soldiers, 200 horses, and 400 musicians, and is watched by a global television audience of millions.

Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace is the daily (or alternate-day) ceremony that makes the Guards internationally famous. The New Guard, marching from Wellington Barracks to the palace behind a Guards band, formally replaces the Old Guard. The sentries posted outside the palace and St James’s Palace are fully armed and operational — this is a working duty, not merely a show.

Other ceremonial commitments include the State Opening of Parliament, state funerals, Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph, and the Garter Ceremony at Windsor Castle. The dual role — ceremonial excellence combined with genuine combat capability — is the defining characteristic of the Household Division.

The Guards Today

In the modern British Army, the five Foot Guards regiments each maintain a single battalion, part of the London District and 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade. They continue to serve in both ceremonial and operational roles, deploying on exercises and operations worldwide. Recent deployments have included NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence in the Baltic states, training missions in Africa, and domestic resilience operations. The Guards’ recruiting pipeline draws from across the United Kingdom, though each regiment retains its historical connection — the Irish Guards recruit from Ireland, the Welsh Guards from Wales, and so on. The standard of discipline, turnout, and professionalism expected of a Guardsman remains the benchmark for the British Army.

Sources

• Fletcher, Ian. Guards! Guards! British Guards Regiments from the Stuarts to the Present Day. Pen & Sword, 2012.
• Adkin, Mark. The Waterloo Companion. Aurum Press, 2001.
• Fraser, David. And We Shall Shock Them: The British Army in the Second World War. Hodder & Stoughton, 1983.
• The Guards Museum, Wellington Barracks, London. theguardsmuseum.com
• Ryan, Cornelius. A Bridge Too Far. Hamish Hamilton, 1974.