An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the emperor or empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, including the regular armed forces, and maintain special rights, privileges and traditions.
Because the head of state often wishes to be protected by the best soldiers available, their numbers and organisation may be expanded to carry out additional tasks. Napoleon's Imperial Guard is an example of this.
In heterogeneous polities reliant on a greater degree of coercion to maintain central authority the political reliability and loyalty of the guard is the most important factor in their recruitment. In such cases the ranks of the guard may be filled with on the one hand royal kinsman and clansman with a stake in the survival of the ruling family, and on the other with members socially and culturally divorced from the general population and therefore reliant on imperial patronage for their survival, for example the Varangian Guards (recruiting solely foreigners), and the Janissaries (Christian children taken as slaves from childhood, to serve the Muslim sultan).
In the post-colonial period, the term has been used colloquially and derisively to describe the staff of a person, usually a politician or corporate executive officer, that acts to prevent direct communication with the person.
The Northern Army of the Han dynasty was the standing professional army branch of the Han Empire, garrisoned around the capital. Several units from this army would be given the honor of guarding the emperor in the capitol.
The Feathered Forest (imperial guards unit composed of primarily or entirely cavalry) [Elite Yulin] of the Army of the Han dynasty[1][2]
Imperial Guards (Tang dynasty), formed initially as honour bodyguards of the emperor and garrison of the capital, and evolved to reflect the era's transition of reliance on professional soldiery over non-professional volunteers and conscripts.
The 10,000-strong Immortals, an elite heavy infantry unit of the Achaemenid Empire from 550 BC–330 BC, functioning as both an Imperial Guard and a faction of the Achaemenid army
Sikh Akali-Nihang (Immortal Crocodiles) warriors who have played the pivotal role in Sikh military history were also the guards of the Sikh Gurus, who are considered as Sache Patishah (True Emperors).
Scholae Palatinae, late Roman Imperial Guards in both Western and Eastern Empires. Established in ca. 312, in the West until the 490s, in Byzantine service until ca. 1080.
The Imperial Guard is the standing army of the Imperium in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. However, the Adeptus Custodes (rather than the Guard, despite their name) actually plays the role of the Emperor's privileged personal guards.
The Crimson Brigade, the Empire of Izmir's elite fighting unit in the 2000 film titled: Dungeons & Dragons.
The Sardaukar of the Padishah Emperor and the Fremen Fedaykin of Paul Muad'dib, plus their successors the Fish Speakers both serve as imperial guards in Frank Herbert's Dune saga.
,_Zhao_Mausoleum,_Shaanxi_province._Tang_Zhenguan_year_17,_ie_644_CE.jpg)
