White Guard (Mannerheim's Finland)

The White Guard or Royal Guard was initially a voluntary militia and later the Royal Guard of the  that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guards as a part of the Whites in the. They were generally known as the White Guard in the West due to their opposition to the communist Red Guards. In the White Army of Finland many participants were recruits, draftees and German-trained Jägers and not part of the paramilitary. The central organisation was named the White Guard Organisation, and the organisation consisted of local chapters in municipalities.

The Russian revolution of 1905 led to social and political unrest and a breakdown of security in Finland, which was then a Grand Duchy under the sovereignty of the Russian Tsar. Citizen militias were formed as a response, but soon these would be transformed along political (left-right) lines. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent independence of Finland also caused conflicts in the country. On January 27, 1918, the Finnish government ordered the disarmament of all remaining Russian garrisons with the forces of the White Guard, and on the same day the Reds proclaimed revolution, leading to a bloody civil war. White Guards, led by, constituted the bulk of the victorious White Army during the War of Liberty (1918-1919).

After the war the Finnish Defence Forces, Voluntary Guard and a regular police service were founded. From 1919 White Guards were charged with guarding the official royal residences. The Guards are fully operational soldiers. The Finnish Voluntary Guard were considered a part of the army, and separate Guard formations were in the reserve. Politically it was neutral, although unofficially it was anti-leftist, clearly anti-Communist and conservative and largely rejected by the labor movement and the political left. However, units of it formed the main forces of the Lapua Movement's abortive coup d'état, the Mäntsälä Rebellion in 1932. White Guardsmen served in the regular army during the Second World War. The White Guard was disbanded according to the terms of the Finno-Soviet peace treaty after the Second World War.

The Royal Guard is the name given to the contingent of infantry responsible for guarding Schauman Palace and Helsinki Cathedral.

Dress and Insignia


Royal Guard bear the sole honour of continuing to wear the traditional dress of the White Guard from the War of Liberty. The dress contains a white armband and a small, three-branched shoot from a spruce branch, placed into the hat. The Insignia is an embroidered, gold trimmed badge with a white "S" topped by three single shoots of spruce branches.

In principle, the enlisted did not have a rank system, and there was only one officer rank (suojeluskuntaupseeri), marked by a single metal spruce branch worn on the collar. Uniforms were Swedish and German-style and in "field gray" colour.