color guard

noun

A uniformed group, especially of soldiers, police officers, Scouts, or school representatives, who present their institution's flag (and sometimes other flags) on ceremonial occasions.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nouncolor guard (plural color guards)

plural color guards · alternative UK colour guard · alternative colorguard · alternative color-guard

  1. scoutinggovernmentA uniformed group, especially of soldiers, police officers, Scouts, or school representatives, who present their institution's flag (and sometimes other flags) on ceremonial occasions.

    The survivors fell sullenly back behind a fence, within easy range of the Confederate rifle-pits. Just before reaching it the last of the color guard was shot, and the flag fell in the open.

    1895, Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, “The Flag-Bearer”, in Hero Tales from American History

Origin

From color (“flag”) + guard.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

color guard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/color%20guard

MLA

“color guard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/color%20guard. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “color guard,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/color%20guard.

Source: color guard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.