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Private company

Swiss Guard

Units serving European courts

Swiss Guards (French: Gardes Suisses [ɡaʁd sɥis]; German: Schweizergarde; Italian: Guardie Svizzere ) are Swiss soldiers who have served as guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. The earliest Swiss Guard unit to be established on a permanent basis was the Hundred Swiss (Cent-Suisses), which served at the French court from 1490 to 1817. This small force was complemented in 1616 by a Swiss Guards regiment.2 It is part of Swiss mercenary.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

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Group of swiss guards inside saint peter dome
Photo: Alberto Luccaroni User:Luccaro, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Swiss Guards (French: Gardes Suisses [ɡaʁd sɥis]; German: Schweizergarde [ˈʃvaɪ̯tsɐˌɡaʁdə]; Italian: Guardie Svizzere [ˈɡwardje ˈzvittsere]) are Swiss soldiers who have served as guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. The earliest Swiss Guard unit to be established on a permanent basis was the Hundred Swiss (Cent-Suisses), which served at the French court from 1490 to 1817. This small force was complemented in 1616 by a Swiss Guards regiment. In the 18th and early 19th centuries several other Swiss Guard units existed for periods in various European courts.2

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

  • Swiss mercenary

From Wikidata.1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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