For the purposes of their protection, on 7 November 1919 Jānis Balodis, Latvian Army Commander-in-Chief, issued an order to form border guard units.

On 6 April 1935, a separate military unit – the Border Guard Brigade (Latvian: Robežsargu brigāde) was created within the Ministry of the Interior, with General Ludvigs Bolšteins appointed as its Commander.

On 10 October 1940 the Border Guard Brigade of the Republic of Latvia was dissolved by the Soviet occupation authorities.

On 7 November 1991 the Presidium of the Supreme Council approved the "Regulations on the Order of Taking the Oath for Soldiers of the Republic of Latvia".

On 11 November 1991 the first border guards of the restored Republic of Latvia took their oath in the Brothers' Cemetery of Riga.

The protection duties by the new service started by organising checkpoints on roads and taking over the functions of Soviet Border Troops in ports and airports, based on the Council of Ministers’ decision of 29 January 1992 “On Ensuring the Takeover and Guarding of the State Border of the Republic of Latvia”.

General Normunds Garbars lead the State Border Guard from 7 April 2009 to 22 January 2019, when he retired after reaching the maximum age limit.