Spahi Spahis ( ) were light cavalry regiment s of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria , Tunisia and Morocco . The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit , with personnel now recruited in mainland France . Senegal also maintains a mounted unit with spahi origins as a presidential escort : the Red Guard . Etymology . The name is the French form of the Ottoman word " sipahi " , a word originally derived from Middle Persian term " Spah " ( in New Persian " Sepâh " , سپاه ) meaning " army " , or " horsemen " . Early history . Following the French occupation of Algiers in 1830 , detachments of locally recruited irregular horsemen were attached to the regiments of light cavalry assigned to North African service . These auxiliaries were designated as " chasseurs spahis " . In 1834 they were organised into four squadrons of regular spahis . In 1841 the 14 squadrons by then in existence were brought together in a single corps of spahis . Finally , in 1845 three separate Spahi regiments were created : the 1st of Algiers ; the 2nd of Oran and the 3rd of Constantine . The spahi regiments saw extensive service in the French conquest of Algeria , in the Franco - Prussian War , in Tonkin towards the end of the Sino - French War ( 1885 ) , in the occupation of Morocco and Syria , and in both World Wars . A detachment of Spahis served as the personal escort of Marshal Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud in the Crimean War and were photographed there by Roger Fenton . A contingent of Spahis also participated in the North China campaign of 1860 . During the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 - 71 one detached squadrons of Spahis formed part of the forces defending Paris , while a provisional regiment comprising three squadrons was attached to the Army of the Loire . A serious rising against French rule in Algeria during 1871 – 72 was sparked off by the mutiny of a squadron of Spahis who had been ordered to France to reinforce those units already there . Prior to 1914 there were four regiments of Spahis in the French Army , three based in Algeria and one in Tunisia . During their period as mounted cavalry the Spahis comprised for the most part Arab and Berber troopers commanded by French officers . This division was not absolute however and there were always a certain number of French volunteers in the ranks ( for example , the later well known lyricist Raymond Asso was a Spahi between 1916 and 1919 ) . In addition , a fixed number of commissioned positions up to the level of captain were reserved for Muslim officers . NCOs were both French and Muslim . As Spahi units were mechanised , the proportion of Frenchmen in the ranks increased . World War I . Spahis were sent to France at the outbreak of war in August 1914 . They saw service during the opening period of mobile warfare but inevitably their role diminished with the advent of trench warfare . By 1918 all seven Spahi regiments then in existence had seen service on the Western Front . In addition a detached squadron had served in Palestine against the Ottoman Empire . During World War I the number of units increased with the creation of Moroccan Spahi regiments and the expansion of the Algerian arm . Between the World Wars . By 1921 the Spahi regiments had been increased to twelve ( from four in 1914 ) and this became the permanent establishment . During the 1920s mounted Spahi regiments saw extensive active service in the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon , as well as in Morocco . They continued to perform policing and garrison duties in Algeria and Tunisia . Although mechanisation began in the 1930s of the Chasseurs d ' Afrique and Foreign Legion cavalry , the Spahis remained an entirely mounted force until after 1942 . About 20 % of the rank and file were French and the remainder Arab or Berber . World War II . In 1939 the Spahis comprised three independent brigade s , each of two regiments and still horse mounted . Each regiment was made up of four sabre squadrons with five officers and 172 troopers in each . Three regiments saw active service in France in 1940 . One Spahi regiment ( " 1er Régiment de Marche de Spahis Marocains " ) distinguished itself in service with the Free French during World War II . Garrisoned in Vichy - controlled Syria as part of a mounted cavalry unit some of the regiment crossed the frontier into the Transjordan in June 1940 . After mounted service in Eritrea , this detachment was subsequently reorganised and equipped with armoured car s by the British in Egypt . The expanded and mechanised regiment served in Egypt , Libya and Tunisia , and was part of the French forces that liberated Paris in August 1944 . Post war . In the course of World War II most Spahi regiments were mechanised , but several squadron s remained mounted for patrol work in North Africa and ceremonial duties in France itself . The annual Bastille Day parade in Paris always featured Spahi cavalry in their traditional dress on white Arabian horse s . While Arab and Berber troopers continued to serve in the mounted units retained , mechanisation led to French personnel becoming a majority in the armoured regiments . Armoured Spahi units saw service in both the Indochina War of 1947 - 54 and the Algerian War of 1954 - 62 . The 6th Spahis had been disbanded in 1956 , followed by the 9th in 1961 . At the end of the Algerian War the 2nd , 3rd 4th , 8th and 9th Spahis were also disbanded leaving only one , formerly Moroccan , regiment in existence as the 1st Spahis . Today . Today the French Army retains one Spahi regiment , the 1er Régiment de Spahis Marocains ; an armoured unit which saw service in the Gulf War . The regiment also maintains the traditions of the entire Spahi corps as it previously existed . Until 1984 the Regiment was located in Speyer , Germany . Their actual base there is now the Technikmuseum Speyer . The 1er Spahis are currently based in Valence , Drôme , France , south of Lyon in the Rhone Valley or what is commonly referred to in France as " The Doors of Provence " . Uniforms . Throughout most of their history the Algerian and Tunisian Spahis wore a very striking Zouave style uniform . It comprised a high Arab headdress , a short red jacket embroidered in black , sky blue waist coat ( " sedria " ) a wide red sash and voluminous light blue trousers . The four regiments were distinguished by the differing colours of their " tombeaus " ( circular false pockets on the front of the jacket ) . A white burnous was worn together with a red cloak ( blue for the Moroccan Spahis ) . French officers wore light blue kepi s , red tunics with gold rank braiding and light blue breeches with double red stripes . Muslim officers wore a more elaborate version of the " tenue orientale " of the Arab and Berber troopers . French Spahis were distinguished by wearing fez s instead of the white Arab turban with its brown camel - hair cord . A less obvious distinction was the footwear — short " sabattes " or traditional North African boots in red Morocco leather for Arab / Berber troopers , conventional black leather for French troopers . Armament was the sabre of the French light cavalry together with the 1892 carbine . From 1915 on a more practical khaki uniform was adopted for service but the classic red and blue reappeared for parade and off duty wear in 1927 . The mounted squadrons retained for ceremonial duties wore a slightly modified version of this parade uniform until they were disbanded in 1962 . The modern 1er Spahis still wear the traditional burnous , red sash and red or blue cloaks for full dress . Exceptionally for a French armoured cavalry regiment , it uses gold ( and not the usual silver ) insignia . The " Ordonnance du Roi portant organisation de la cavalerie indigène en Algerie " of 7 December 1841 establishing the Spahis as a regular corps of the French Army specifies this distinction for sous - officers , brigadiers and officers both French and indigenous ( see full text in Pierre Rosiere ' s " Spahis " as cited below ) . Senegalese Spahis . Senegal maintains a mounted cavalry detachment of spahi origin as its modern presidential security unit and ceremonial guard . In addition to the North African cavalry described above , two squadrons of spahis were raised in French West Africa . The first spahis in Senegal were sent in 1843 to deal with an outbreak of tribal conflict . This platoon - sized unit of 25 French and Algerian spahis stayed and began recruiting locally . The troopers were recruited from the inhabitants of Senegal and the French Sudan while their French officers were seconded from Algerian Spahi regiments . The Senegalese Spahis saw extensive active service in the French West African territories of Tchad , the Sudan and the Congo between 1853 and 1898 , as well as serving in Morocco between 1908 and 1919 . The Senegalese Spahis were the cadre around which the mounted gendarmerie was formed in 1928 . The modern Gendarmerie Nationale of the Republic of Senegal therefore traces its origins to the spahis , and the Red Guard still wears the burnous , fez and red tunic of the French period . Algerian Republican Guard . The modern Republican Guard of Algeria includes a mounted detachment for ceremonial purposes . This unit is mounted on the same breed of white barb s as those utilised by the French spahis prior to 1962 and wear red and green uniforms with white burnouses , which broadly resemble those of their predecessors . Indochinese Spahis . Short - lived cavalry units designated as " spahis " were raised by the French Colonial Army in Indochina . The first of these was a squadron of spahis recruited from Cochinchina in 1861 and disbanded in 1871 . The second was a small detachment of " spahis Tonkinese " raised in Tonkin in 1888 and disestablished the following year . Spahis of Italy . The Italian colonial administration of Libya raised squadrons of locally recruited Spahi cavalry between 1912 and 1942 . These differed from their French namesakes in that their prime role was that of mounted police , tasked with patrolling rural and desert areas . Although they had Italian officers these spahis were more loosely organised than the regular Libyan cavalry regiments ( Savari ) . They wore a picturesque dress modelled on that of the desert tribesmen from whom they were recruited .