noun
Usage: often capitalized O&G
Etymology: from the Old Guard, the imperial French guard created by Napoleon I in 1804; translation of French Vieille Garde
: a group of established prestige and influence
the old guard of the socially elect — F.L.Allen
among physicists … he had become the leader of the Old Guard — Bertrand Russell
especially : a dominant usually conservative element of a political party
proceeded to undermine … the caucus, which the Old Guard of that day dominated — H.R.Penniman