Walloon Guards The Walloon Guards ( " Gardes Wallonnes " ; in Spanish , " Guardia Valona " ) were an infantry corps recruited for the Spanish Army in the region now known as Belgium , mainly from Catholic Wallonia . The Walloons formed an elite unit tasked with the interior security of Spain and the maintenance of public order , eventually being incorporated as a regiment of the Spanish Royal Guard . History . Origins . The Walloon Guards were first raised at a time when the Low Countries were under the Spanish Crown as the Spanish Netherlands . " Walloons " was the German ( " walah " ) name for their romanized neighbors . Initially Walloon line infantry regiments were formed by the Flemish , the Brabantians and Walloons to the number of 4 , 000 men and were recruited among the strongest and tallest men available , to spearhead assaults or to cover retreats . Establishment . The decision to raise a regiment of Walloon Guards was taken on 17 October 1702 by Philip V of Spain and the new unit arrived in Spain in December the following year . They were linked with the Spanish Guards ( " Gardes Espagnoles " ) raised shortly before . Both regiments had the same organisation , disciplinary regulations and uniforms of dark blue , red and silver . The model for both were the French Guards ( " Gardes Francais " ) of the French " Maison du Roi " , a detachment of whom were sent to Spain in 1703 to act as instructors . Recruitment . After the independence of the United Netherlands in 1648 and the cession of the Spanish Netherlands to Austria at the Treaty of Utrecht in 1714 , Walloons continued to serve in the Spanish army together with foreign soldiers from Switzerland , Ireland , and Italy . The Walloon Guards remained a primarily Walloon unit , although the Austrian authorities attempted to discourage recruitment in the former Spanish Netherlands . Most officers of the Regiment came from Spanish families of Walloon origin . Late 18th century . In March 1766 , the Walloon Guard was among the troops defending Charles III of Spain during the Esquilache Riots , and shots fired by a detachment of the regiment killed a woman , intensifying the crowd ' s anger . Demands made by the rioters to the king included the disbanding of the Walloon Guards . Until the Austrian Netherlands were overrun and annexed by the First French Republic in 1794 , the region continued to supply 400 to 500 recruits per year to the Walloon Guards through a recruitment office in Liège . The three Walloon line infantry regiments , " Brabante " , " Flandes " and " Bruselas " , were dissolved and redistributed to other regiments between 1791 and 1792 . Peninsular War . Part of the Walloon Guards were stationed in Madrid at the time of the French occupation in October 1808 . These were incorporated into the French Army , which already included a significant number of Belgian and Dutch units . Four battalions of Walloon Guards garrisoned in Barcelona and Aragon continued in Spanish service , seeing much action against the French . With recruitment from the Southern Netherlands effectively ceasing , the Walloon Guards were reduced in numbers to two battalions by January 1812 , in spite of drawing on Spanish volunteers as replacements . Post - Restoration . With the restoration of the Spanish Bourbon monarchy in 1814 the Royal Guard was reassembled , but continuing recruitment difficulties meant that the Walloon Guards had become a mainly Spanish unit . On 1 June 1818 the Walloon Guards were accordingly renamed as the Second Regiment of Royal Guards of Infantry , losing their traditional distinctions . In 1824 a new " Guardia Real " was raised drawing entirely on Spanish conscripts or volunteers from the regular army . References . " This article incorporates material from the registered on 1892 , nowadays in public domain "