Color guard is a unique and exciting activity that blends art, dance, and athletic skill. Often seen performing alongside marching bands during football games or competitions, color guard members use flags, rifles, sabers, and dance moves to create visually stunning routines.

Color guard is a performance sport that tells a story through movement and music. The performers, called "guard members," use brightly colored flags, wooden rifles, and lightweight sabers to perform synchronized routines. These routines often feature dance and acrobatics, making it both artistic and physically demanding.
Color guard can be divided into two main types:
- Marching Band Color Guard: This is what most people see during halftime shows or parades. The guard performs outdoors, moving in sync with the marching band’s music on a football field.
- Winter Guard: This takes place indoors, in a gym or auditorium, and doesn’t involve a marching band. Instead, routines are performed to pre-recorded music and often include more dramatic storytelling and costumes.
What Do They Do?
Color guard routines include several key elements:
- Flag Work: Spinning and tossing flags high into the air while creating patterns and shapes.
- Weapon Work: Using imitation rifles or sabers for precise spins and tosses.
- Dance: Performing choreographed movements that match the music and enhance the performance.
- Expression: Guard members use facial expressions and body language to convey emotions and connect with the audience.
Why Is Color Guard a Sport?
Color guard is more than just entertainment—it's a physically demanding sport. Members practice for hours to build strength, flexibility, and endurance. They need to master challenging tricks, like catching a flag after tossing it 15 feet in the air or spinning a rifle with perfect timing. Competitions are judged on precision, creativity, and overall performance, just like many other sports.
Similar Sports
- Winter Guard — an indoor sport of the color guard discipline in which teams perform several routines using supporting equipment to recorded background music.
- Drum Corps — a competitive, performance-based activity featuring precision marching, brass, percussion, and color guard ensemble.
- Baton Twirling — a metal rod called a baton, is manipulated, while simultaneously making coordinated dance moves
- Marching Band — a large team of participants play musical instruments as they perform various routines while moving around on a huge outdoor field
Related Pages
- Complete list of sports
- Dance and Dance-Related Sports
- Drum Corps — a competitive, performance-based activity featuring precision marching, brass, percussion, and color guard ensemble.
- The Encyclopedia of Sports — a list of every sport from around the world.
