The Republican Guard of Peru (Spanish: Guardia Republicana del Perú) was a branch of the Peruvian National Gendarmerie responsible for providing security to the headquarters of public institutions and penitentiary establishments, as well as border control.

The Republican Guard originally started as an infantry regiment of the Peruvian National Gendarmerie, founded in 1852 under the government of José Rufino Echenique as part of a reorganization of the police forces at the time. It became the 1st Gendarmes de Infantería Battalion (Batallón de Gendarmes de Infantería N.º 1) in 1862, later fighting in the War of the Pacific.

In 1855, president Ramón Castilla reorganized the Gendarmerie, consolidating the existing police forces into it and establishing strict entry requirements, as well as increasing their numbers. The following year, continuing with the reorganization of the Gendarmerie, Castilla issues the Decree of April 7, 1856, which divided the Gendarmerie into two battalions based in Lima: with headquarters at the “Sacramentos de Santa Ana” Barracks, located in the street of the same name and next to Plaza Italia, in Barrios Altos (now the campus of the "Heroes of Cenepa" Elementary School), and secondary headquarters in Rímac District. The decree states:

The police and security forces that exist today, will meet in a single one with the name of Gendarmes it will be used exclusively to maintain public safety; It will consist of two regiments, one infantry and one cavalry, the first consisting of two battalions and the second four squadrons.

An 1873 decree by president Manuel Pardo once again reorganized the police forces of the country, creating, among other entities, the Prison Guard (Guardia de Cárceles), located in each regional capital.

It would be only in 1919 when the 1st Gendarme Battalion became the 1st Gendarme Battalion "Republican Guard" (Batallón de Gendarmes de Infantería "Guardia Republicana" N.º 1), upon the recommendations of then President Augusto Leguía, at the suggestion of the Peruvian Army General Gerardo Alvarez, who during a visit to Paris, France, saw the French Republican Guard and–inspired by its long history and its mission to guard government institutions and the presidency–advised that it was due time that Peru adopted its example. A Supreme Decree for this purpose was enacted on August 7 that same year. With Florentino Bustamante, a former NCO, as its first commanding officer till 1923, the Guard Battalion's mandate was to ensure security in all buildings of the national government especially "the security of the Government Palace and the National Congress", as stated in the decree that raised it. It later became a full regiment.

In 1931, the Republican Guard Regiment was transformed into the 2nd Infantry Regiment of Security, in a failed effort to begin the unification of the national police services following the Chilean example. It reverted to its former name later that year by the orders of President David Samanez Ocampo, and formally reorganized once more and stripped of its State Color.

The regiment would be reformed in 1932, with a new motto: "Honor, Loyalty, Discipline", by now commanded by Colonel Enrique Herbozo Méndez. After the assassination of President Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro on April 30, 1933, the regiment remained as the presidential guard for several more years. The reorganized Regiment's strength was a regimental headquarters unit, service battalion and 2 battalions, the latter two composed of 3 rifle companies each plus a machine gun platoon and the regimental band and Corps of drums.