Part of the Texas Military Department along with the Texas Army National Guard and Texas Air National Guard, the Texas State Guard trace its origins to an order issued in February 1823 by Agustín de Iturbide, Emperor of Mexico at the time, to Empresario Stephen Austin commanding him to “organize the colonists into a body of militia to preserve tranquility.” Austin did just that less than half-a-year later, establishing the Texian Militia on 5 August 1823.
Though Iturbide would soon be ousted from the throne and executed, his command to the settlers to form a militia was echoed in 1829 when the legislature of Coahuila y Tejas, one of the United Mexican States Constitutionally established in 1824, ordered settlers to organize a military force in order to defend themselves.
Today’s Texas State Guard is commanded by the Governor of Texas, with its administration handled by the Adjutant General of Texas. Its mission is to aid state and local authorities during emergencies, carry out homeland security activities, and to augment the other two branches of the Texas Military as needed. Organized as a state military under U.S. Code (Title 32, Chapter 431), the Texas State Guard is unlike those branches in that it is activated by and reports solely to the Governor of Texas.
The Texas State Guard patch, technically known as a Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI), was approved in 1943.