Red Guards

Young radical Maoist activists (mostly students) who spread the 1966 Cultural Revolution across China, destroying whatever was ‘old’, and rebelling against all ‘reactionary’ authority. The first Red Guards were a group formed in Qinghua University in Beijing on whom Mao bestowed his blessing at a mass rally in the capital in 1966.

Red Guards refer to socialist or communist militia formed to instigate, support, or defend communist revolutions.

Red Guards (Finland), during the Finnish Civil War. Red Guards (Russia), during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War. Red Guards (Bavaria), in the Munich Soviet Republic. Red Guards (Hungary), in the Hungarian Soviet Republic (1918-1919)

The Red Guards in China were a rather different case, being largely composed of students, and being formed under an established communist state to advance the interests of one faction of Communist Party of China against other factions, during the period of conflict known as the Cultural Revolution.

Other Uses

The fictional Emperor's Royal Guard, elite Imperial corps of the Star Wars universe, are also sometimes referred as "Red Guards".