vanguard \VAN-gahrd\DEFINITION
noun

1: the troops moving at the head of an army
2: the forefront of an action or movement
EXAMPLESThe manufacturer is in the vanguard of green technology.

"Classical beauty is easy, but a taste for the difficult, the unconventional, the ugly, has often been seen as a mark of sophistication, a passport into the rarefied world of the artistic vanguard." -- From an article by Natalie Angier in The New York Times, August 10, 2010
DID YOU KNOW? "Vanguard" derives from the Anglo-French word "avantgarde." Both terms were created by combining the French words "avant," meaning "before," and "garde," meaning "guard." In medieval times, "avantgarde" referred to the troops that marched at the head of the army. English speakers retained that meaning when they adopted "vanguard" in the 15th century. "Avant-garde," which is now used in English to refer to a group of people who develop new and often very surprising ideas in art, literature, etc., didn't make its own English debut until 1910.

Redneckism:

Hey didju hear that Billy Jobob got one of them thar Vanguards fer his PT Cruiser! Posed to be able to run into a cow and not do annie damage atall!