A guard of honour is a ceremonial event practice in military and sports as a mark of respect.
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In the military a guard of honour is a ceremonial practice to honour visiting foreign dignitaries, or the fallen in war, or a ceremony for public figures who have died.
The commander is three paces in front of the second file from the right and accompanies the personage for whom the guard is mounted. An officer carrying the Colour stands three paces in front of the centre; if there is a third officer he will be three paces in front of the second file from the other flank.[1]
A guard of honour could have a single service contingent (e.g. army) or it could be a tri service (inter service) affair. The Guard Commander, after saluting the dignitary (usually head of state), marches up to him and escorts him to inspect the Guard (soldiers in formation). During the salute, the national anthems of both the dignitary's country and the host country are usually played by a ceremonial band.
In cricket, the guard of honour is used to celebrate the achievement of a player (usually a batsman). Normally used during a player's final game, it has also been used when a player breaks a world record. The players's team mates form a tunnel, with their bats forming the roof, & the successful player walks through. Notable use of the guard of honour includes the two times Brian Lara broke the world record for the highest individual score in test cricket and when Inzamam ul Haq retired from both ODIs and Test cricket.
In association football, teams show their appreciation to the champions of their own division. This involves the players of one team applauding the league winners (the other team) as they appear onto the pitch. The applauding team forms two lines to make a corridor, and the league winners run through the corridor, single file. For example, in the 2004-05 season, Manchester United performed one for the league winners Chelsea. Newcastle United also performed one on the last day of the season for Chelsea. Chelsea performed one for Manchester United, Manchester United won the Premier League in the 2006-07 season and Chelsea performed one for them at a match between the two clubs at Stamford Bridge. Scottish Premier league team Rangers F.C squad performed the guard of honour for departing tallisman Dado Prso as he was a great influence on and off the field for the squad. On 7 May 2008, FC Barcelona formed the guard of honour for arch rivals Real Madrid after winning the 2007-08 season. This was ahead of the 152nd installment of El Clasico. On 11 July 2010, the second place finishers, Oranje (the Netherlands national football team) formed the guard of honour for the winners of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Spain national football team. A guard of honour was held on 5 November 2011 before the match between Sunderland and Manchester United for Sir Alex Ferguson for his 25 year contribution to the club.
In Australian rules football, players will often form a guard of honour for those who are leaving the field after a landmark game or on their retirement game. For example, Melbourne and Essendon formed a guard in 2005 to honour Indian Ocean tsunami victim Troy Broadbridge. Collingwood and North Melbourne formed a guard of honour in 2006 for retiring player Saverio Rocca, who forged a successful goalkicking career at both clubs.