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.
This troop 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]
Contents |
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 the 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 Argentina-Brazil War. After Pedro's abdication, the Emperor’s Battalion was dismissed, 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 heir to Emperor’s Battalion and would use its uniforms 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 Presidential Guard Battalion.
The most important officer of the Presidential Guard Battalion was the 2nd Liutenant Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, the Duke of Caxias.[2]