Guard of honour

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A guard of honour (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, especially funerals. In military weddings, especially those of commissioned officers, a guard, composed usually of service members of the same branch, form the sabre arch. In principle, any military unit could act as a guard of honour. However, in some countries, certain units are specially assigned to undertake guard of honour postings or other public duties. Republican guards, royal guards and foot guards frequently have ceremonial duties assigned to them.

Guards of honour also serve in the civilian world for fallen police officers, firefighters, and other civil servants and events. Military style salutes and the presentation of colors are given at funerals for firefighters, law enforcement personnel and other civil servants. Certain religious bodies, especially churches of the Anglican Communion and the Methodist movement, have the tradition of an honour guard at the funeral of an ordained elder, in which all other ordained elders present "guard the line" between the door of the church and the grave, or hearse if the deceased is to be buried elsewhere or cremated.^[1] Catholic chivalric orders, such as the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, provide guards of honour for deceased knights and high-ranking officers during funerals.^[2][3][4] The practice of providing a guard of honour as a mark of respect also occurs in sports, especially throughout the Commonwealth of Nations.