The Franc-Garde (English: Free Guard) was the armed wing of the French Milice (Militia), operating alone or alongside German forces in major battles against the Maquis from late 1943 to August 1944.

The creation of the Franc-Garde was announced on 30 January 1943 and it was deployed on 2 June of the same year in the Calabres camp near Vichy with Jean de Vaugelas serving as its commander.

Its stated role was to support the national revolution undertaken by the Vichy government, predominantly through policing, but also assisting, inter alia, in the clearing of bombed cities.

In principle, any intervention by the Free Guard was to be preceded by a verbal or written requisition sent by the prefect to the officer commanding the required unit, but this was not always the case in practice.

In October – November 1944, faced with the advance of allied troops, several thousand militiamen (out of a total of ten- to fifteen-thousand) left France for Germany and Italy.

According to the Information Service of the French Committee of National Liberation in February 1944, the Franc-Garde numbered 1687: a cohorte in Vichy, a centaine in Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse, and a trentaine in each of forty-five departments of the south.