195. Senate Guard

The Senate Guard, sometimes called the Blue Guard, was an elite unit, stemming from the Republic Senate Guardsman of old, established to protect senators, the Supreme Chancellor, and other ranking members and buildings of the Galactic Republic government.
Some members of the Guard were known to wear Senate Commando armor during times of war.

The history of the Senate Guard was ancient and was as old as that of the Galactic Senate itself thus tracing its origin to the ancient times of the Republic. Its known that among the artwork of the earliest times of the Republic, images of silent Guardsmen had been present during these earlier centuries as a silent testament during diplomatic negotiations that force was ready to be used if diplomacy itself failed. By the time of the Separatist Crisis, the Guard was led by Jesra Loture. During the Clone Wars, the blue-armored Senate Guard were the elite honor guard to high-ranking government officials on Coruscant, and rarely left the capitol except on the most important Senate business. Though the Coruscant Guard was formed out of elite clones, no clones were found in the ranks of the Senate Guard.

During this era, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine began marginalizing the role of the Senate Guard. Instead of relying on them, he began instal his own elite guard that consisted of red robed warriors that became known as the Red Guard. These soldiers were selected from the ranks of the Senate Commandos and took over the responsibility of security for the Chancellor. There was also a cosmetic change for the Blue Guard; the elaborate crests were removed from their helmets, and the open face was covered by a black visor similar to that of the Red Guard. Some of the Blue Guard also stood at duty without their robes, and holding a DC-15A blaster rifle. They were known as the Senate Commandos.