The Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment is the oldest and one of the most elite guards regiments of the Russian Imperial Army.
In the period of 1695-1696, the Preobrazhensky Regiment took part in the Azov campaigns. In 1700, it was named the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. It participated in all major battles of the Northern War, in the Prut campaign and in the Persian anabasis.
After the death of Peter I, the Preobrazhensky Regiment took an active part in the enthronement of Catherine I and in all subsequent palace coups. Detachments of the Regiment also took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739, the Russo-Swedish Wars of 1741-1743 and 1788-1790, as well as in the enthronement of Elizaveta Petrovna in 1741.
In 1800, Emperor Paul I ordered it to be called His Imperial Majesty's Life Guards Regiment, but under Emperor Alexander I, its former name was restored. In 1805-1807, the Regiment took part in the wars with Napoleonic France (the War of the Third Coalition and the War of the Fourth Coalition), and then took part in the Russo-Swedish War of 1808-1809. In 1812-1814, it participated in the Patriotic War and in the foreign campaign of the Russian Army.
During the World War I, the Regiment participated in the Battle of Galicia, the Warsaw-Ivangorod operation, the Battle of Mazyr, the Vilna offensive, and the Brusilov breakthrough. The second company of the reserve battalion of the Preobrazhensky Regiment took an active part in the February Revolution of 1917. In 1918, the Regiment was disbanded, but then reconstituted as part of the White Army in Southern Russia.
On December 12 of 2012, in his address to the Federal Assembly, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin stated the need to revive the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments. On April 9, 2013, the 154th Independent Commandant’s Preobrazhensky Regiment was named after the legendary regiment.
The postage stamps provide images of army men of the Regiment:
– a grenadier and a fusilier of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment (1712);
– a staff officer and a private of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment (1814);
– an adjutant and a private of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment (1913);
– a banner group of the 154th Independent Commandant’s Preobrazhensky Regiment, 2023.
| Paper |
Printing method |
Perforation |
Format of the stamp |
Edition |
| Chalk surfaced |
Offset + security system |
Comb 11½ |
32,5 × 65 mm |
64 thousand stamps |