Presidential Guard Battalion (Brazil)

Men of the Presidential Guard Battalion oversee the monthly hoisting ceremony of the Brazilian Flag located in the Three Powers' Square.

The Presidential Guard Battalion (Portuguese: Batalhão da Guarda Presidencial; BGP) is a unit of the Brazilian Army and honor guard to the President of Brazil. Two other units, the 1st Guards Cavalry Regiment (Portuguese: 1º Regimento de Cavalaria de Guardas; RCG; also known as the "Independence Dragoons") and the Cayenne Battery, are also part of the presidential honor guard unit.

This battalion had its origins in the Emperor’s Battalion, organized in 1823 during the peace campaigns that followed the Declaration of Independence and wears its 19th-century uniforms.^[1]

History

After Portugal's Crown Prince Pedro had proclaimed the independence of Brazil from Portugal, on September 7, 1822, some troops remained loyal to Portugal. To guarantee national independence, these troops had to be defeated. To fight the troops in Bahia, Pedro established in 1823 the Emperor’s Battalion.

In 1825, the Emperor’s Battalion was sent to Montevideo to fight at Cisplatine War. After Pedro's abdication, the Emperor’s Battalion was disbanded, as all other troops directly subordinated to them.

On April 7, 1933, President Getúlio Vargas established the Guards Battalion to protect the government's palaces. The decree determined that this battalion was the heir to Emperor’s Battalion and its traditions and would use its uniforms - blue polo and white pants with a shako, boots and a brown belt - at special ceremonies and celebrations. On April 6, 1960, with the transfer of the national capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília, the unit changed its name to today's Presidential Guard Battalion.

The most important officer of the Presidential Guard Battalion was the 2nd Lieutenant Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, the Duke of Caxias and the Patron of the Army.^[2]Thus, it's nickname is Battalion of the Duke of Caxias in his honor.

Honor guard

• 
  Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany
• 
  President Álvaro Colom Caballeros of Guatemala
• 
  Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg
• 
  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India
• 
  The Presidential Guard at the Independence Day military parade.

Independence Dragoons

• 
  Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez with RCG's soldiers on Planalto Palace's ramp
• 
  Manmohan Singh seeing BGP's parade with RCG's soldiers behind
• 
  RCG's soldiers during the visit of French President Jacques Chirac
• 
  Independence Dragoons during a ceremony in the Itamaraty Palace, seat of the Ministry of External Relations
• 
  1st Cavalry Regiment during a change of command ceremony

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Batalhão da Guarda Presidencial (Brazil).

• Batalhão da Guarda Presidencial Official website (Portuguese)