Brigade of the Guards

Brigade of the Guards
Regimental Insignia of the Brigade of the Guards
Active	1949 - Present
Country	India
Allegiance	Indian Army
Branch	Army
Type	Foot Guards
Role	Mechanized Infantry
Size	19 Battalions
Regimental Centre	Kamptee, Maharashtra.
Motto(s)	Pahla Hamesha Pahla (First Always First)
War Cry	Garud Ka Hun Bol Pyare (I am the son of Garuda, Say O my friend)
Theatre Honours	Jammu & Kashmir - 1947-48, Rajasthan - 1965, Punjab - 1965, East Pakistan - 1971 and Jammu & Kashmir - 1971
Decorations	2 Param Vir Chakras, 2 Ashoka Chakras, 1 Padma Bhushan, 8 Param Vishisht Seva Medals, 6 Maha Vir Chakras, 4 Kirti Chakras, 46 Vir Chakras, 18 Shaurya Chakras, 77 Sena Medals, 10 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, 3 Yudh Seva Medals, 16 Vishisht Seva Medals, 45 Mention-in-Despatches, 151 COAS's Commendation Cards and 79 GOC-in-C's Commendation Cards
Battle honours	Akhaura, Burki, Gadra Road, Hilli, Naushera, Gurais, Shingo River Valley, Sylhet and Ganga Sagar
Insignia
Regimental Insignia	Garuda - A mythological eagle king.
Hackle	Red over Yellow

The Brigade of The Guards is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was the first "all India", "all class" infantry regiment of the Army where troops from all parts of India serve together, as opposed to other regiments that recruit from specific regions, ethnic groups or religions. The Brigade of Guards was raised to implement the government's policy of encouraging Army recruitment from classes and regions which had been under-represented in the forces. Raised as The Guards Brigade, the old system of class composition was replaced with recruitment open to all regions, castes, creeds, and sections of society. Three of the Army's oldest and most distinguished battalions — 2nd battalion 2nd Punjab Regiment, 1st battalion Indian Grenadiers Regiment and 1st battalion 6th Rajputana Rifles were converted as Guards battalions in 1949. Later, they were joined by the 1st battalion Rajput Regiment. It is the only regiment of foot guards in the Indian Army. Though the Brigade of The Guards is only 50 years old, its constituent battalions go back as far as 225 years and between them share 93 battle honours earned around the globe. The President of India is the Honorary Colonel-in-Chief and the Chief of Army Staff is the Colonel-in-Chief of The Guards. The Guards Regimental Centre is at Kamptee in Maharashtra.

Prior to the raising of the Guards, Indian Army infantry regiments derived their name from region, religion or sub-caste. There was a message with its formation that the country comes before everything else, including religion and caste. The regiment was formed in 1949 as the first mixed class Indian regiment to be raised after Indian independence by Field Marshal KM Cariappa OBE. The first battalions of the Brigade of Guards were formed by taking the oldest battalions of some of the infantry regiments in the Indian Army. Currently the Brigade of the Guards consists of 19 regular battalions and 2 territorial battalions. In the 1980s, the Indian Army began to increase the number of mechanized infantry battalions on its order of battle. As part of this program, the battalions of the Brigade of Guards were eventually converted to mechanized infantry.