Establishment of the Queens’ Guard at the College of William and Mary

In 1957, on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in the New World at Jamestown, memories of Queen Mary and Queen Anne were renewed by the visit to the College of the reigning monarch of England, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, and her consort Prince Philip. During their visit to the College on Oct. 16, 1957, selected members of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps served as an honor guard for Her Majesty and His Royal Highness.

A successor to this honor guard, hereafter to be known as The Queens’ Guard, has been established in recognition of the honors bestowed upon the College of William and Mary in Virginia by Queen Mary II, Queen Anne, and Queen Elizabeth II.

On February 8, 1961, the 268th anniversary of the granting of the royal charter to the College of William and Mary in Virginia, President Davis Y. Paschall approved the formation of a special unit of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps to be designated The Queens’ Guard. In a public announcement, Paschall described the Guard as “a unit organized, outfitted with special uniforms, and trained in appropriate drills and ceremonies as will represent the College of William and Mary in Virginia on such occasions and in such events as may be approved by the President.” A letter dated September 11, 1961, and sent to the College from a representative of the Queen expressed her recognition and support of the Queens' Guard. In recognition of their formation, the Scots Guards presented the Queens' Guard with several uniforms on which the modern Queens' Guard uniform is based.

Since the 1980s, the Guard has been combined with Company W-4 of the National Society of Pershing Rifles, a co-ed fraternity with both ROTC and civilian students. The Queens’ Guard is currently comprised of 20 students and serves as the College’s ceremonial guard. The Guard is a self-managed and self-trained student organization with elected officers. The Guard is supervised by and receives support from the professor of military science, who is the group’s faculty advisor, and the ROTC program. Patrons of the Guard include the student body of the College of William and Mary, the Alumni Association, and friends of the College.

The Insignia of the Queens’ Guard

A phoenix on a field of ermine is chosen for the insignia of The Queens’ Guard. The phoenix, modified in the insignia to suggest the American eagle, rises from its own ashes, a symbol of rebirth from destruction employed in literary allusion to the College of William and Mary in Virginia and, in higher sense, to its immortality.

—from The Queen’s Guard published by the College of William and Mary, 1961