The honor guard at the Latvian Freedom Monument is one of the “calling cards” of Riga, watched daily by hundreds of tourists and locals. However, many have noticed that sometimes there is simply no soldier in the usual place.
“Sometimes they are there, sometimes they are not!” residents wonder. One reader of the Jauns.lv portal wrote: “Why is there no honor guard at the Freedom Monument every day when tourists want to take photos, but today — in the rain and wind — they are standing?”
A representative of the National Armed Forces, Senior Sergeant Jānis Kāgis, explained that the guard at the monument is on duty daily — from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, including weekends. The change of guard occurs every hour, and since September 2004, soldiers have also patrolled the area around the monument every half hour.
However, the honor guard is not posted or is removed if:
- the air temperature exceeds +25 °C or drops below −10 °C;
- the wind speed exceeds 10 m/s;
- it is snowing or there is a snowstorm, and the wind speed is over 5 m/s;
- there is heavy rain.
In such weather conditions, the honor guard does not serve either at the Freedom Monument or at the Riga Castle.
A bit of history
The honor guard at the Freedom Monument has been present since its opening — November 18, 1935. On July 21, 1940, shortly after the Latvian government accepted the USSR's ultimatum and the Red Army entered Riga, the guard was removed. The tradition was only resumed decades later — on November 11, 1992.
