President of India Droupadi Murmu presented the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President’s Bodyguard (PBG) at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 27 October.

In her brief remarks on the occasion, the President congratulated the Commandant, Officers, JCOs and Other Ranks of the PBG for the remarkable display of parade, maintenance of well-groomed horses and the impressive ceremonial attire.

She expressed confidence that they will strive with dedication, discipline and valour, to maintain the highest traditions of Rashtrapati Bhavan and be an ideal role model for other Regiments of the Indian Army.

Credit: PIB New Delhi

The President’s Bodyguard is a select body of hand-picked men with special physical attributes, chosen after a rigorous and physically gruelling process.

The PBG is celebrating 250 years of its Raising this year, having been raised as the Governor-General’s Bodyguard (later the Viceroy’s Bodyguard) by the then Governor-General, Warren Hastings in Banaras (Varanasi) in 1773.

Credit: PIB New Delhi

The oldest regiment in the Indian Army and the President of India’s own Guard has the unique distinction of being the only military unit of the Indian Army that is privileged to carry the President’s Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner.

This distinction was first conferred on the President’s Bodyguard in 1923 by the then Viceroy, Lord Reading, on the occasion of the Bodyguard completing 150 years of service.

Each succeeding Viceroy, thereafter, presented the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the Bodyguard.

Credit: PIB New Delhi

Even after independence, Every President has continued the practice of honouring the regiment which was renamed the President’s Bodyguard on 27 January 1950. But rather than a coat of arms, as was the practice in the colonial era, the monogram of the President appears on the Banner.

Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, presented his Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President’s Bodyguard on 14 May 1957.