An imperial guard describes any group of military bodyguard or retainers responsible for the protection of an imperial person, be they an Emperor, Empress or Imperial Prince or Princess. They are often comprised of the more elite of the regular armed forces and maintain special rights or privileges.

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 modern times, 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 (also called a palace guard in this context).

List of Imperial Guards

• Persian Immortals
• Praetorian Guard Roman Empire From around 275 BC until 284 A.D.
• Jovians and Herculians Guards, Roman Empire from 284 until 988
• Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire
• Janissary of the Ottoman Empire
• Imperial Guard of Napoleon I and the First French Empire
• Imperial Guard (Napoleon III) of the Second French Empire
• Leib Guard of the Russian Empire
• SS of the (German) Third Reich
• Imperial Guard of Japan

See also

• The Imperial Guard from the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniature wargame
• The Imperial Guard from Marvel Comics
• Emperor's Royal Guard of Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars universe.
• Swiss Guard
• Republican Guard