Saturday's parade, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Presidential (Kremlin) Regiment, was held at Cathedral Square, in the heart of the Kremlin, with music provided by the Presidential Orchestra.
This year, for the first time ever, the changing of the guard ceremony featured a female officer, who took part in the horse carousal portion of the event. Commenting on the event, Russian media noted that she coped with the tasks even better than her male colleagues.
The Presidential Regiment is a unique military unit, dedicated to defending top public officials, and maintaining the Kremlin's historical traditions. The regiment is part of the Federal Protective Service, has the status of a security service and reports directly to the Russian president. Its motto is 'Loyalty. Honor. Duty.'
Since 2009, a company of guards from the Presidential Regiment and the Presidential Orchestra have opened the Spasskaya Tower Festival, which features honor guards units and military bands of Russia and countries from around the world; that festival takes place on Red Square in late August and early September.
The changing of the Kremlin guard ceremony has existed in Russia since the days of Grand Prince Ivan III, in the 15th century. Their beginnings coincided with the construction of a new brick Kremlin. Russia's first constitutional code of 1649, the Sobornoye Ulozheniye, included the formulation of standards for Kremlin ceremonies, including the changing of the guard ceremony.
