List of oldest military units and formations in continuous operation

The modern standing armies first developed in the 15th century. The terminology for modern miliatry units and formations, such as company, battalion, regiment etc. mostly arise in the early modern period, during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Candidates for the oldest extant military unit in continuous operation include:

• the Royal Militia of the Island of Jersey claims a foundation date of 1337, when Edward III ordered the levy of a militia of "all men capable of bearing arm" (disbanded during 1946–1987),
• the English Yeomen of the Guard (established in 1485), who, however, hold a purely ceremonial function;^[1]
• the 1st Infantry Regiment of the French army was formed in the French Revolution drawing from an older regiment tracing its origin to the bandes de Picardie established in 1479;
• the Papal Swiss Guard, established in 1506 (disbanded during 1527–1548);
• the Spanish 1st King's Immemorial Infantry Regiment of AHQ and Regimiento de Infantería Ligera Soria n.º 9 claim descent from early 16th-century tercio infantry (disbanded in the Spanish Civil War);
• the Swedish Life Guards, established 1521;
• the Spanish Navy Marines, established 1537
• the English Honourable Artillery Company, established 1537
• the English Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers, established 1539.

Oldest active military units still in continuous operation

Year	Heraldry	Name	Founder	Founding location	Current location	Notes
1248		King's Own Immemorial 1st Infantry Regiment	Ferdinand III of Castile	Kingdom of Spain	Fuerteventura, Spain	At present the Regiment is the Unit responsible for providing the central seat of Army Headquarters security, services, and support needed for its functioning.
1337		Royal Militia of the Island of Jersey	King Edward III of England	England	United Kingdom	In 1987, it was re-formed as a Territorial Army regiment, the Jersey Field Squadron (The Royal Militia Island of Jersey), 111th Regiment, Royal Engineers, later 73rd Regiment, Royal Engineers. In 2007, it came under the operational command of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia).
1479		1st Infantry Regiment	King Louis XI of France	Kingdom of France	Sarrebourg, France	Founded in 1479-1480 by King Louis XI as Bandes de Picardie. It became the Légion de Picardie in 1558 during the Italian War of 1551-1559 and then Régiment de Picardie on May 29, 1569. It was ultimately renamed 1er régiment d'infanterie de ligne in 1791 after the military reforms of Louis Le Bègue Duportail.[2] It is now part of the Franco-German Brigade and was recently deployed in Afghanistan, Mali and the Central African Republic.
1506		Papal Swiss Guard	Pope Julius II	Papal States	Vatican City	The Pontifical Swiss Guard is one of the oldest active military units presently in existence.[3]
1509		Regimiento de Infantería Ligera Soria n.º 9		Kingdom of Spain	Fuerteventura, Spain	Originally founded in 1509 as "Tercio de Zamudio". It is the second oldest regiment still used for overseas military operations.[4][5]
1521		Life Guards (Sweden)		Dalarna, Sweden	Stockholm, Sweden	Livgardet, formerly Svea Livgarde, dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 "young able men" as body guards for Gustav Vasa, subsequent King of Sweden.
1536		Life Regiment Hussars		Uppland and Södermanland	Karlsborg, Sweden	The Life Regiment traces back to two drafted units set up by Gustav Vasa in 1536 to lessen the dependency on foreign mercenaries. The regiment has fought in many battles and is one of Europe's most victorious regiments. Today the regiment participates in more international military missions for Sweden than any other regiment.
1537		Honourable Artillery Company {HAC}	King Henry VIII	England	City of London	Officially incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. The Company fought with distinction in both World Wars and its current Regiment is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior in the Army Reserve. Today its purpose is to attend to the "better defence of the realm" by the support of the HAC Regiment and a detachment of Special Constabulary to the City of London Police.
1537		Spanish Navy Marines	Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor	Kingdom of Spain	Kingdom of Spain	Now roughly small brigade size.
1539		Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers	King Henry VIII of England	England	Monmouth	The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) is the most senior regiment in the British Army Reserve, having given continuous loyal service to the crown since 1539. It is part of the reserve forces, and is the only remaining Militia unit in the British Army.
1614		Guard Hussar Regiment (Denmark)	King Christian IV of Denmark	Denmark	Denmark	Unit amalgamated with and perpetuates Zealand Life Regiment, which was disbanded on 1 January 2001
1618		Portuguese Marine Corps		Portugal	Portugal	Consists of 2 battalions
1635		1st-11th Cuirassier Regiment	Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar	Saxe-Weimar	Republic of France	1st Cuirassier Regiment existed almost continuously, with short periods of occupation, from 1635, amalgamated with 11th Cuirassier, themselves a storied unit, in 1999
1635		Skaraborg Regiment (infantry)	King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden	Kingdom of Sweden	Sweden	Founded 1613; In 1942 converted to Skaraborg Regiment (armoured); in 2000 changed back to Skaraborg regiment
1636		182nd Infantry Regiment (United States)		Thirteen Colonies	United States	The 182nd Infantry Regiment is the oldest Infantry Regiment in the United States Army
1636		181st Infantry Regiment (United States)		Thirteen Colonies	United States	The 181st Infantry Regiment is the second oldest Infantry Regiment in the United States Army
1636		101st Field Artillery Regiment		Thirteen Colonies	United States	The 101st Artillery Regiment is the oldest Artillery unit of the US Army; was founded the same time as the 181st Infantry Regiment
1636		101st Engineer Battalion		Thirteen Colonies	United States	The 101st Engineer Battalion was founded at the same time as the 181st Infantry Regiment
1638		211th Military Police Battalion		Thirteen Colonies	United States	The 211th Military Police Battalion goes back to 1741; the 772nd Military Police Company of this Battalion was founded in 1638. Part of the Massachusetts National Guard.
1641		15th Infantry Regiment (Portugal)		Portugal	Portugal
1642		Scots Guards (third regiment of foot guards)	King Charles the First	Scotland	United Kingdom	Raised in 1642 to form a personal body guard to king charles the first when he campaigned in Ireland; became part of English Amy in 1661
1650		Coldstream Guards	George Monck	England	United Kingdom	Raised in 1650; became part of the English Army in 1661
1652		276th Engineer Battalion (United States)		Thirteen Colonies	United States	The 1953 US Army Lineage Book Infantry traces the 176th Infantry Regiment origins to 1652; 176th Infantry was a predecessor unit of the 276th Engineer Battalion
1656		Grenadier Guards		England	United Kingdom	Senior Regiment of the Guards Division
1657		Jutland Dragoon Regiment	Field marshal Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein	Denmark	Denmark
1658		Royal Life Guards (Denmark)	King Frederick III of Denmark	Denmark	Denmark	Both a Guard/Ceremonial unit of the Danish Monarch and Infantry Regiment of the Danish Army
1660		Life Guards (United Kingdom)	Charles II	England	United Kingdom	Senior Regiment of the British Army
1664		Royal Marines	King James II	England	United kingdom	Now roughly small brigade size.
1665		Korps Mariniers	Premier Johan de Witt	Dutch Republic	Netherlands	Founded as Regiment de Marine. Now roughly small brigade size.
1672		102nd Infantry Regiment (United States)		Thirteen Colonies	United States	Part of the Connecticut National Guard
1672		192nd Military Police Battalion		Connecticut United States	United States	Part of the Connecticut National Guard
1673		113th Infantry Regiment (United States)		New Jersey United States	New Jersey United States	Taken in Service in 1775; traces orgians back to 1673 Milita; part of the New Jersey National Guard
1756		The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC)	Robert Rogers	British America	York, Canada	Founded as Rogers Rangers
1775		Company A, 1st Battalion 69th Infantry Regiment (New York)		New York City, United States	New York City, United States	Descended from the 8th Company 1st New York Regiment 1775-1777; Part of the New York National Guard
1776		1st Battalion 5th Field Artillery Regiment		United States	United States	US Army regulars
1789		1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery (United States)		United States	United States	Part of the New York National Guard

Older military units no longer considered active

Entries in this table predate some of those listed above, but are no longer considered active.

Year	Heraldry	Name	Founder	Founding location	Current location	Notes
1337		Royal Guernsey Militia	King Edward III of England	England	United Kingdom	Disbanded 1951
1485		Queen's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard	Henry VII of England	Leicestershire, England	London, United Kingdom	Founded during the Battle of Bosworth Field, the organization is now purely ceremonial.
1485		Yeomen Warders	Henry VII of England	England	London, United Kingdom	The Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary, popularly known as the Beefeaters, are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London.
1509		Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms	Henry VIII of England	England	London, United Kingdom	Founded as a Bodyguard to the British Monarch
16th Century		High Constables and Guard of Honour of the Palace of Holyroodhouse		Scotland	United Kingdom	The High Constables of Holyroodhouse are a small corps of ceremonial guards at the Sovereign's official residence in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Dating from the early sixteenth century, they now parade whenever the Sovereign, or the Lord High Commissioner of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, is in residence. They form part of the Royal Household in Scotland. Also present at the Palace of Holyroodhouse is the Doorward Guard of Partisans, who comprised the personal retainers of the Lord High Constable of Scotland, which was responsible for the Sovereign's safety while in Edinburgh.
17th Century		Södermanland Regiment (armoured)		Sweden	Sweden	Active 1942-1957; 1963-2005
1602		Army Materiel Command		Denmark	Denmark	Active 1602-2007
1636		Svealand Artillery Regiment		Sweden	Sweden	Active 1794-1997
1638		Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts	Robert Keayne John Winthrop	Boston, United States	Boston, United States	The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest charted military orgizantion in the United States; now it is Honor Guard for the Governor of Massachusetts
1639		104th Infantry Regiment (United States)		Massachusetts United States	Massachusetts UNited States	Last active Battalion transferred to 181st Infantry Regiment
1672		169th Infantry Regiment (United States)		Connecticut United States	Connecticut United States	Deactivated in 1992
1676		Royal Company of Archers		Scotland	Scotland	Ceremonial Unit of United Kingdom's monarch bodyguard in Scotland
1684		Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922)	Earl of Granard	Ireland	Ireland	Disbanded in 1922
1730		Izmaylovsky Regiment		Russian Empire	Russian Empire	Active until 1917
1771		First Company Governor's Foot Guard		Connecticut USA	Connecticut USA	Similar units are: 2nd Company Governor's Food Guard {1775}; 1st Company Governors Horse Guard {1788}; 2nd Company Governors Horse Guard (1808). Part of the Connecticut State Militia
1786		102nd Field Artillery Regiment		Massachusetts, United States	Massachusetts, United States	Last active unit transferred to 101st Field Artillery Regiment
1790		Veteran Corps of Artillery of the State of New York		New York City, United States	New York City, United States	The Veteran Corps of Artillery of the State of New York; it is Honor Guard for the Governor of New York State

See also

• List of armies
• List of army units called Guards

References

Notes

Citations