The 175th Anniversary of Spain's Civil Guard

Since its inception, the Civil Guard has served Spain's population. Its officers are visible on Spain's roads and mountains, on motorbikes, and driving other law enforcement vehicles.

However, there is much more to the Civil Guard, which has evolved alongside Spanish society.

To display how the Civil Guard fully embraced the digital era, exhibition visitors had two virtual-reality headsets available, through which they could view different videos such as mountain rescues or highway patrols.

These videos gave the viewer a first-hand look at the work that these specialist units do; something that members of the public don't often get the chance to see.

The ten display panels of this exhibition were the result of research into the Civil Guard's 175 years of history, summarizing the key aspects of this work.

The logo designed for the 175th anniversary of the Civil Guard represents its evolution over the years and is a brief, but meaningful, slogan that signifies the main role of the force.

The Uniform

The first known photograph of a Civil Guard officer shows him wearing the classic red and blue jacket and characteristic hat, known as a "tricorne," which was slightly larger than the hat worn by officers today.

The uniforms worn by the Civil Guard over the years have evolved to varying degrees, depending on the role being carried out, the unit to which the officer belonged, and their location. The earliest uniforms were designed to inspire respect and elegance, while more recent ones have a greater emphasis on functionality.

Such features have been considered of the highest importance since the Civil Guard was established. As the saying goes, "the uniform makes the man."

Staff nowadays have the option of living in an official residence, although in the past, they typically lived with their families in Civil Guard barracks.

As travel was an intrinsic part of the duties of a Civil Guard officer, they each traveled with a chest that doubled up as a desk in their rooms—until those rooms began to be used for storing equipment and uniforms.

The chests were designed to house everything they needed in the performance of their duties, as well as to make it easy for them to pack up and leave for a new destination by simply closing the lid and setting off.

Professionalism and Respect at All Times

In this fast-paced era where everything is just a click away, it's difficult to imagine how wages used to be paid at an official event, with a certain degree of ceremony, held regularly in the barracks.

Logistics: An Essential Part of the Service

The Civil Guard has a wide range of equipment at its disposal for the performance of its duties, such as several vessels and aircraft.

And in this era of cycling as a trend, not just for leisure but as a means of transport, with several countries giving some of their security forces bikes for certain services, the Civil Guard can boast that from 1914 onward, it used bicycles as its official vehicle for a few years in its "velocipedes" unit.

Fighting in Defense of Freedom

Throughout its history, great responsibility has been laid upon the shoulders of the Civil Guard in relation to the defense of freedom in the face of terrorism—both national and international.

The voices of those colleagues who have been silenced in this battle are testimony to the strength of their commitment to the war on terror.

And those colleagues who gave their lives in the line of duty are ever-remembered.

The exhibition closed on April 14, 2019, having received close to 10,000 visitors.