Old Guard
Preserved but no longer current.
The Imperial Guard created by Napoleon in 1804 and composed of picked men, the flower of the French army. Devoted to the Emperor, with a magnificent uniform including a huge bearskin hat, with better pay and rationing than the rest of the army, the Old Guard were to be relied upon in any des- perate strait of battle, and it was they who made the last charge of the French at Water- loo.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Old Guard” mean?
The Imperial Guard created by Napoleon in 1804 and composed of picked men, the flower of the French army. Devoted to the Emperor, with a magnificent uniform including a huge bearskin hat, with better pay and rationing than the rest of the army, the Old Guard were to be relied upon in any des- perate strait of battle, and it was they who made the last charge of the French at Water- loo.
Is “Old Guard” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.