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The history of the Foot Guards runs through the fabric of Great Britain. To most people across the globe, the Guards today are the soldiers in their red tunics and tall bearskin hats standing guard at Buckingham Palace. More than just ceremonial troops, they perform a dual role, that of world-class combat soldier whilst also being outstandingly professional ceremonial soldiers. Though today there are five regiments of Foot Guards, in the eighteenth century there were only three; The First Regiment of Foot Guards, 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards and the Coldstream Guards.
From their earliest times, the Guards have fought in many actions protecting Britain and her empire and have participated in almost every campaign in which the British Army has been, and with over three centuries of service, it would simply not do any justice to their long and storied past to try and cover it here. In their secondary role, they have been the personal bodyguards to the Sovereign, protecting both their person and Royal residencies from their formations, and in ceremonial functions.
As Royal Guards, they have over the centuries accumulated certain privileges. For example, up until 1871 all officers in the Foot Guards had the privilege of having double rankings. The practice began with King James II granting double rank to Guards Captains in 1687, assigning them ranks of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army. King William III extended this Lieutenants in the Guards, granting them ranks as Captains in the Army. This, in effect, gave officers of the Foot Guards seniority when engaging with officers from the line regiments, and also allowed Officers to jump the promotion lines if they ever transferred to a line regiment. This practice came to an end with reforms to the military in the nineteenth century.
The First Guards
Honi soit qui mal y pense
Formed in 1656 by the exiled Charles II in Bruges, as the Royal Regiment of Guards, under the Colonel Lord Wentworth, the Regiment was initially recruited from the loyal men who had followed their King into exile and were rewarded in 1660 when the King was restored to the throne. In 1665, the Regiment was renamed the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards.
The 1st went on to serve during the Wars of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) and fought at the battles of Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenarde (1708) and Malplaquet (1709). The Regiment fought during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, but it was during the Peninsular War in 1815 at the battle of Waterloo they gained their present title and undying fame by defeating the Grenadiers of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard and granted the title of Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards.
The regiment can be recognised on parade by the even spacing of the buttons on the Regimental.
The Regiment’s motto is Honi soit qui mal y pense – This is Old French and roughly translates as Shame on him who thinks ill of it, or in other words Let misfortune befall any enemy of the Crown.
The Third Guards
Nemo me impune lacessit
The regiment now known as the Scots Guards traces its origins to the Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment, a unit raised in 1642 by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll in response to the 1641 Irish Rebellion. After the Restoration of Charles II, the Earl of Linlithgow received a commission dated 23 November 1660 to raise a regiment which was called The Scottish Regiment of Footguards.
The Guards remained in Scotland during the War of the Spanish Succession. Retitled The Third Regiment of Foot Guards, it moved to London in 1712, and did not return to Scotland for another 100 years.
In 1831, the Third Regiment of Foot Guards had its the Scottish title restored as the Scots Fusilier Guards, and in 1877 Queen Victoria changed this to The Scots Guards. In 1899, the regiment was presented with a State Colour which is still carried on parade on special occasions in the presence of the sovereign.
The Scots Guards can be identified on parade by the buttons spaced in groups of three. Their motto Nemo me impune lacessit translates to No one provokes me with impunity and was the Latin motto of the Royal Stuart dynasty of Scotland.
Coldstream Guards
Nulli Secundus
The origins of the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards lay in Cromwell’s New Model Army as Monck’s Regiment of Foot which first mustered near Berwick and fought with distinction at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650.
General Monck moved his headquarters to Coldstream in 1659, and it was from there that they began their historic march to restore order in London in 1660 in readiness for the exiled King Charles II to restore the monarchy. The Coldstreamers paraded on Tower Hill on 14th February 1661 to become The Lord General’s Regiment of Foot Guards, in the service of the King. Since that day they have proudly served their sovereigns both in a ceremonial role at home and in most major conflicts.
They fought at the Battle of Sedgemoor in 1687, ending the Monmouth Rebellion, during the Nine Years War (1688-1697) against the French, the Siege of Namur, the Seven Years War (1754-1763) and the American War of Independence (1775-1783).
Perhaps their finest hours was the defense of Hougoumont during the Battle of Waterloo, closing of the farmhouse gates, trapping a small French detachment inside the courtyard, and stopping further assaults.
It can be distinguished by buttons spaced in twos as the second regiment of foot guards, a position they have never accepted as they are older than The Grenadier Guards, hence the motto Nulli Secundus or Second to None.
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