Regiment of Patricians

Regiment Of Patricians

The 1st Infantry Regiment "Patricios" (Regimiento de Infantería 1 "Patricios") is oldest and one of the most prestigious regiments of the Argentine Army. The title is often shortened to the Patricians' Regiment (Regimiento de Patricios). Since the 1990s the regiment has been designated as air assault infantry. It is also the custodian of the Buenos Aires Cabildo, the welcoming party for visiting foreign dignitaries to Argentina and the escort and honor guard battalion for the City Government of Buenos Aires. By September 22, 2010, the Regiment's headquarters building has been declared as a National Historical Monument by the Argentine government, on the occasion of the country's bicentennial year.

The regiment was formed as the Legión Patricia ("Patricians' Legion) from inhabitants of Buenos Aires in 1806 to fight against the British invasions of the Río de la Plata. Among some of its first members it included a woman, the Alférez (approximately, second lieutenant) Manuela Pedraza, one of the heroes of the Defense of Buenos Aires in 1806. The regiment therefore existed prior to Argentine independence. Their first commander was Cornelio Saavedra. The regiment also fought in the May Revolution, the Cisplatine War, the Platine War, the Paraguayan War, the Dirty War, and the Falklands War.

Although the word "Patrician" is usually employed as a synonym of aristocratic, in the naming of the Regiment it was meant to be "the sons of the homeland" (Spanish "Patria" meaning "homeland"). Indeed, the original members of the Regiment were not aristocrats but Criollo peoples, down in the social hierarchy of the time.