A guard of honour is a ceremonial event practice in military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 and sports as a mark of respect.

Military

In the military a guard of honour is a ceremonial practice to honour visiting foreign dignitaries, or the fallen in war, or a ceremony for public figures who have died.

The commander is three paces in front of the second file from the right and accompanies the personage for whom the guard is mounted. An officer carrying the Colour stands three paces in front of the centre; if there is a third officer he will be three paces in front of the second file from the other flank.

For dignitaries

A guard of honour could have a single service contingent (e.g. army) or it could be a tri service (inter service) affair. The Guard Commander, after saluting the dignitary (usually head of state), marches up to him and escorts him to inspect the Guard (soldiers in formation). During the salute, the national anthems of both the dignitary's country and the host country are usually played by a ceremonial band.

Cricket

In cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, the guard of honour is used to celebrate the achievement of a player (usually a batsman). Normally used during a player's final game, it has also been used when a player breaks a world record. The players's team mates form a tunnel, with their bats forming the roof, & the successful player walks through. Notable use of the guard of honour includes the two times Brian Lara

Brian Lara

Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM is a former West Indian international cricket player. Lara is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time...

 broke the world record for the highest individual score in test cricket

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 and when Inzamam ul Haq retired from both ODIs and Test cricket.

Association football

In association football, teams show their appreciation to the champions of their own division. This involves the players of one team applauding the league winners (the other team) as they appear onto the pitch. The applauding team forms two lines to make a corridor, and the league winners run through the corridor, single file. For example, in the 2004-05 season

2004-05 in English football

The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League...

, Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 performed one for the league winners Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

. Newcastle United

Newcastle United F.C.

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

 also performed one on the last day of the season for Chelsea. Chelsea performed one for Manchester United, Manchester United won the Premier League in the 2006-07 season and Chelsea performed one for them at a match between the two clubs at Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge (stadium)

Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...

. Scottish Premier league team Rangers F.C squad performed the guard of honour for departing tallisman Dado Prso

Dado Pršo

Miladin "Dado" Pršo is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a striker.Pršo played for seven different teams and made over 300 league appearances as a professional...

 as he was a great influence on and off the field for the squad. On 7 May 2008, FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona

Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....

 formed the guard of honour for arch rivals Real Madrid

Real Madrid

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

 after winning the 2007-08 season. This was ahead of the 152nd installment of El Clasico

El Clásico

El Clásico , also known as El derbi Español, is the name given in football to a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. It is contested twice a year in the Spanish La Liga competition, and more often if the clubs meet in other competitions...

. On 11 July 2010, the second place finishers, Oranje (the Netherlands national football team

Netherlands national football team

The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...

) formed the guard of honour for the winners of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Spain national football team

Spain national football team

The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...

.
A guard of honour was held on 5 November 2011 before the match between Sunderland  and Manchester United for Sir Alex Ferguson for his 25 year contribution to the club.

Australian rules football

In Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

, players will often form a guard of honour for those who are leaving the field after a landmark game or on their retirement game. For example, Melbourne and Essendon formed a guard in 2005 to honour Indian Ocean tsunami victim Troy Broadbridge

Troy Broadbridge

Troy Broadbridge was an Australian rules footballer with the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League .-Melbourne career :...

. Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

 and North Melbourne

North Melbourne Football Club

The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

 formed a guard of honour in 2006 for retiring player Saverio Rocca

Saverio Rocca

Saverio "Sav" Giovanni Rocca is a punter for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League and former Australian rules footballer for both and in the Australian Football League. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles.He is one of a few players who have converted from...

, who forged a successful goalkicking career at both clubs.

Notable incidents

• Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
  Rajiv Gandhi
  Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
  
   was assaulted by a member
  Vijitha Rohana
  Vijitha Rohana was a Sri Lankan sailor and political activist. He is noted for his assault on Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on July 30, 1987 at President's House, Colombo. It was claimed some as an attempted assassination...
  
  of the naval guard of honour in Sri Lanka.