site.btaNational Guards Unit: Much More than Tourist Attraction

Among the must-sees for visitors to Bulgaria’s capital city, tourist guides invariably list the hourly changing of the guard in front of the Administration of the President. While the pomp and ceremony there cannot compare to London, Paris or Arlington, the soldiers in Sofia have 145 years of history behind them. They celebrate their unit’s birthday on Friday.

Mission, Functions and Tasks

The National Guards Unit is a representative military element of the Bulgarian Armed Forces (but not part of their numerical strength) under the direct orders of the Minister of Defence. It participates in ceremonial and protocol functions of national importance involving the President of the Republic, the Chair of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defence, and the Chief of Defence.

The mission of the National Guards Unit is not only to demonstrate the customs and ceremonies of the service but also to act as a focal point of their revival and augmentation for the sake of preserving and asserting national identity.

The National Guards Unit is one of the symbols of state power, along with the national flag, coat of arms and anthem.

The Guards perform ceremonial duties during visits by foreign heads of state, defence ministers, chiefs of defence and other senior officials, at presidential inaugurations and opening of Parliament, during ceremonial celebrations and commemorations, upon the presentation of credentials by foreign diplomats, and at state funerals.

Winter and Summer Uniform

During its nearly a century-and-a-half-long history, the unit has been reorganized, renamed and resized on numerous occasions. One element, though, has remained its most enduring and visible feature: the Guards uniform.

Prince Alexander I, who possessed some artistic skills, is known to have been personally involved in the design of the first uniforms of the Princely Escort in 1883 together with the Escort Commander, Russian Cavalry Captain Aleksandr Mosolov. They used the hussar cavalry uniform as a model. According to another theory, the inspiration was drawn from the uniforms of Bulgarian insurgents against the Ottoman rule, led by Georgi Rakovski and Hristo Botev. The uniforms were redesigned in late 1936.

Between 1956 and 1989, the various uniform types were developed by Colonel Raicho Peev. Artist Alexander Vachkov designed new uniforms for the National Guards Units and the ceremonial companies of the Land Forces, the Air Force and the Navy, eliminating a number of incongruities dating from the 1950s.

The Guards uniform was last modified in 2005 to bring the design as close as possible to the original and differentiate the clothing of enlistees, non-commissioned and commissioned officers.

The set has invariably included an eagle-plumed round fur hat (white in summer and grey in winter) with a red, white-cross top. The eagle feathers symbolize the proud Bulgarian spirit and are supplied by the Sofia Zoo. The head badge is the eight-point silver Alexander Star, a scale replica of the breast star of the Bulgarian Royal Order of St Alexander instituted in 1882. A slightly modified version of this badge reappeared on the Guards headgear in 2002. The Guardsmen wear a tunic (red-braided white braids in summer and white-braided crimson in winter) with decorative standing collar, cuffs and tails, dark blue breeches with silver piping, white gloves and black boots with spurs (a reminder of the time when the Guard was mounted).

Relatively recent additions to the officer's uniform are aiguillettes and the reintroduced cartouche box worn on a cross shoulder belt. The silver buttons on their tunics are shaped as loaves of bread.

New swords were made for the Guards officers in 2003, basically replicating the commonest type of officer sword from 1927 while updating the symbols depicted on the weapon.

The rank-and-file Guardsmen are armed with Soviet-made Simonov self-loading carbines. The 7.62 mm SKS semi-automatic rifle, designed in 1945, weighs 4.3 kg and has a permanently attached folding bayonet and a hinged, fixed 10-round internal box magazine.

An identification badge for the National Guards Unit servicemen, designed in 2002, combines the Alexander Star with the new national symbols.

Drills and Ceremonies

Since their inception and until 1944, the Guards were an elite combat unit, supplied with the best weapons and horses. Their commanding officers were mostly trained abroad. Guards officers were part of the monarch's retinue, rendering up an aide-de-camp who accompanied the head of state when travelling abroad.

Initially, the Guards were assigned to escort the prince or king, the members of the royal family and visiting foreign dignitaries. Beginning in 1882, their most important sentry duty was at the main gate of the Royal Palace in Sofia. They also guarded the residences of Vrana and Sitnyakovo.

Guards service was reserved for the most handsome and tallest conscripts, selected from the wealthiest and most prominent families, trusted by and loyal to the royal family. Small wonder they were among the most eligible bachelors in Sofia.

The Life Guards' barracks were located on the site of the present-day Embassy of Slovakia.

After the communist takeover in 1944, the Guards were transferred to the Interior Ministry. Between 1949 and 1989, their most conspicuous presence was at the entrance to the Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum in central Sofia. There, the hourly changing of that guard of honour, with the soldiers and their relief commander goose-stepping from their guardroom in the ground floor of the nearby National Bank and back, drew camera-clicking foreign tourists. During visiting hours, Guards were also posted inside the mausoleum’s funeral chamber, where the communist leader's embalmed body was displayed for viewing.

In 1999, when the main entrance to the Administration of the President was moved to the building's south wing, Guardsmen in ceremonial uniforms were posted there, with sentry boxes on either side of the glass door. Another pair of Guards can be seen flanking the national flag on a stand in the entrance lobby. This four-soldier detail is relieved every hour on the hour.

Physical endurance is essential for this duty, which requires standing still at "order arms" for a long time, but this is not enough. In some cases, girls have slipped notes with their number in the Guards' pockets, setting the beginning of a beautiful friendship. On a more serious note, in 2010 a driver forced his BMW car towards the sentries at the President's Administration, who did not budge, the Unit’s Commander, Colonel Boyan Stavrev, recalled in a newspaper interview. The intruder was restrained with the help of the Gendarmerie and the National Service for Protection.

Starting on November 5, 2003, a ceremonial changing of the guard in front of the Administration of the President, involving 28 Guardsmen, is performed at 12 noon on special occasions (the national day and eight other official holidays) and on every first Wednesday of the month except in January, February and December.

The National Guards Unit presented their Iskri [Sparks] ceremonial performance for the first time on May 5, 2003. The spectacular show combines non-standard drills with and without arms, throws, catches and snatches, carried out by 100 Guardsmen. Iskri has been staged abroad as well.

On July 14, 2007, 32 Bulgarian Guardsmen marched in the Bastille Day Parade in Paris as part of 800 troops representing the 27 EU Member States. That was the Guards’ first participation in a military parade abroad.

In 2014, the Guards were part of 393 protocol and representative functions and official ceremonies.

Personnel

The representative elements of the National Guards Unit comprise an all-infantry Guards Battalion, an infantry and artillery Guards Mixed Battalion, the Guards Representative Brass Band, and the Representative Ensemble of the Armed Forces.

The Mixed Battalion mans a battery of 122 mm howitzers which fire 20-gun salutes on ceremonial occasions.

Applicants to join the Unit must hold Bulgarian citizenship only, have at least secondary education, be not older than 40, 1.75 to 1.82 m tall, weigh up to 85 kg, and have no visible scars and tattoos. A clean criminal record, passing a general knowledge test and a physical aptitude and mental fitness test, and vetting by the State Agency for National Security are also required.

After three years on active duty, Guardsmen are transferred to less demanding positions: platoon commander or company logistician.

Private Gergana Ivanova was the first woman to join the Unit, in July 2012. This became possible after two female applicants sued the Defence Ministry for gender-based discrimination and Ordinance No. 14 of 2005, which made service in the Guards all-male, was repealed. In 2022, eighteen women already served in the National Guards Unit: 10 NCOs and 8 enlistees (including four Guardswomen).

Just like the rest of the Armed Forces, the National Guards Unit is severely undermanned (over 50% in 2019).

The then Commander of the National Guards Unit, Colonel Krum Aleksandrov, told BTA in November 2003 that of the 121 professional military serving in the Unit, only 48 were Guardsmen. In 2011, the Unit’s next Commander, Colonel Boyan Stavrev, said in an interview for the Monitor daily that 12 Guardsmen had quit in 2010 and another 13 had left in the first half of 2011, leaving 72 vacancies unfilled. Colonel Stavrev specified that the Guardsmen totalled 243.

"In 2014, four or five people applied per position. Now the proportion is reversed: one applicant per five positions," the Unit’s Executive Officer, Colonel Toni Petkov, said on National Radio in August 2019.

Competitions for recruitment of members of the Unit were announced in June 2020 (for 50 soldier positions), in January 2021 (for 60 soldier positions), and in June 2024 (for 136 soldier positions).

Landmark Dates

July 12, 1878: 150-strong Sofia Cavalry Squadron No. 1 is formed with Captain Aleksandr Mosolov as its commander.

July 12, 1879: In Sofia, Squadron performs first official escort of Bulgarian post-Liberation monarch - Prince Alexander I. Birthday of National Guards Unit.

August 30, 1879: Squadron is designated His Royal Highness's Own Escort.

September 1885: Escort is first Bulgarian combat unit to cross into Eastern Rumelia after its union with Principality of Bulgaria.

November 1885: Guards cavalry fights in the Serbo-Bulgarian War.

October 15, 1888: Escort receives its standard from Prince Ferdinand I.

January 1, 1892: Escort is renamed His Royal Highness's Life Guards Squadron.

December 29, 1903: Squadron is reorganized as Life Guards Cavalry Regiment.

1912-1918: Life Guards Cavalry Regiment with its 22 commissioned officers, 683 NCOs and soldiers and 669 horses, sees action in First (1912-1913) and Second (1913) Balkan Wars and in WW I (1915-1918), including memorable capture of Adrianople in March 1913 and battles on Dobrudzha Front in January 1916. WW I casualties: 53.

September 1918: Regiment defends Sofia against mutineers during Vladaya Uprising.

May 6, 1937: Unit, renamed Guards Cavalry Regiment, receives its new standard from King Boris III.

November 1938: Guards company is present at funeral of Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara.

September 1940: Regiment is first Bulgarian military force to enter Southern Dobrudzha after Romania ceded area to Bulgaria under the Craiova Agreement.

May 11, 1941-February 20, 1942: As part of Bulgarian 5th Army, Regiment is garrisoned in Skopje.

1942: Guards Cavalry Regiment is reorganized as 589-strong His Majesty's Guards Cavalry Battalion.

October-November 1944: Battalion fights Nazi Germany in Vardar Macedonia. WW II casualties: 5.

March 5, 1946: "His Majesty's" is removed from name of Guards Cavalry Battalion.

1955: Ceremonial Guards Company is set up for ceremonial occasions and rituals and military honours.

September 26, 1996: Armed Forces Representative Battalion under Defence Ministry is established by Council of Ministers Decree No. 246.

May 14, 2001: National Guards Unit is established by Council of Ministers Decree No. 124 adopting Regulations on Unit's Structure, Organization and Procedure for Employment.

July 11, 2003: National Guards Unit receives its organization colour from incumbent President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces, Georgi Parvanov.

November 2, 2009: New Regulations on Unit's Structure, Organization and Procedure for Employment are adopted by Council of Ministers Decree No. 260 (effective November 10, 2009, supersede 2001 Regulations).