Royal Guards of Hawaii

The Royal Guard of the Hawaii National Guard is an Air National Guard ceremonial unit which is uniformed in a manner similar to the royal bodyguard of the Kingdom of Hawaii of the late 19th century. The original 50-man unit had been disbanded by King Lunalilo after the barrack mutiny of 1873, reestablished by King Kalakaua, and finally abolished when the monarchy fell in revolution at the end of the 19th century.

Royal Guard of the Hawaii National Guard
Active	1854–1873 1874–1893 1962-Present
Country	Hawaii United States
Allegiance	Kingdom of Hawaii State of Hawaii
Branch	Air National Guard
Type	Honor guard (current)
Size	42
Part of	Hawaii Air National Guard
Engagements	1868 Kaona uprising 1873 Barracks Revolt Rebellion of 1887 Rebellion of 1888 Rebellion of 1889 Rebellion of 1893

The Royal Guards in front of ʻIolani Barracks.

The Royal Guards in front of Washington Place.

The current Royal Guards were raised in 1962 as a purely ceremonial unit. Each guardsman is a Hawaiian resident, a member of the Hawaii Air National Guard, of full or partial Hawaiian descent. The unit appears in support of the Governor at official State and other public functions; less frequently, the unit appears at ceremonies involving descendants of former Hawaiian royalty.

In 1963, the Royal Guards consisted of 14 men. It has grown to a strength of 42.