A United States Armed Forces Joint-Service Color Guard. This color guard consists of personnel from 5 of the 6 military branches of the United States Armed Forces (Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard).

A military branch (also service branch or armed service) is a first level subdivision of the national armed forces of a state.

Types of branches

TypeRoleExample (if atypical)
Air and space forceAir and space warfareFrench Air and Space Force
Airborne forcesParatrooper operationsRussian Airborne Forces
Air defense forceAir and missile defenseEgyptian Air Defense Forces
Air forceAerial warfare
ArmyGround warfare
Border guardBorder securityVietnam Border Guard
Coast guardMaritime securityUnited States Coast Guard
Command and controlReconnaissance, Communication, Surveillance, Information warfarePeople's Liberation Army Information Support Force
Cyber forceCyberwarfareDigital and Intelligence Service (Singapore)
Emergencies serviceDisaster relief and emergency managementMilitary Emergencies Unit (Spain)
Engineering serviceMilitary engineeringConstruction and Engineering Forces (Mongolia)
GendarmerieMilitary and/or public policingNational Gendarmerie (France)
General StaffCommand and controlStrategic Command Operations (Venezuela)
Logistics serviceMilitary logisticsJoint Support Service (Germany)
MarinesNaval land forceUnited States Marine Corps
Medical serviceMedical serviceBelgian Medical Service
Military policeMilitary law enforcement agencyRepublic of China Military Police
Military reserve forceNational reserve and auxiliary serviceLithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces
NavyNaval warfare
Strategic rocket forceOperation of land-based strategic missilesPeople's Liberation Army Rocket Force (China)
Royal/Presidential guardProtection of royal families / presidential offices and ceremonial dutiesSaudi Royal Guard Regiment / Republican Guard (Algeria)
Space forceSpace warfareUnited States Space Force
Special forcesSpecial operationsPolish Special Forces
Unmanned systems forcesDrone warfareUnmanned Systems Forces (Ukraine)

Unified armed forces

The Canadian Armed Forces is the unified armed forces of Canada. While it has three distinct commands – namely the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force – it remains a single military service.

NATO definition

Branch of service (also branch of military service or branch of armed service) refers, according to NATO standards, to a branch, employment of combined forces or parts of a service, below the level of service, military service, or armed service.

See also