The traditional French National Day military parade featured vintage uniforms and Olympic rings, marking the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of France.
Facing a politically unstable France in the wake of inconclusive snap parliamentary elections, President Emmanuel Macron calmly inaugurated the procession from a command vehicle.
Amid uncertainty over the future government, this year’s parade presented a calmer atmosphere to the sporadic disturbances of the Yellow Vest protestors in recent years.
President Macron descended Avenue Foch before a sparse audience, access to the ceremony was restricted for safety reasons.
Preparations for the upcoming Paris Olympics necessitated a landmark change in location this year. The annual parade had to abandon its traditional route down the renowned Champs-Élysées.
The ceremony incorporated tributes to the 80th anniversary of the Liberation. A military band kicked off the festivities with the theme from The Longest Day, a classic 1960s film immortalising the experience of American soldiers during the invasion of France on 6 June 1944.
Historic jeeps and other vehicles, driven by soldiers dressed in period uniforms, paraded past the grandstand, over the five Olympic rings imprinted on the ground.
A troop of servicemen carried the flags of the 31 countries -14 Western and 17 from Africa and the Maghreb- that played instrumental roles in this historic event.
In a surprising absence, no tanks or armoured vehicles participated in the celebrations. The forthcoming Olympics also led to the decision not to invite any foreign dignitaries this year, a stark contrast from the grand ceremonies of 2023, which hosted India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
The Parisian sky was filled with 22 helicopters and 45 aircraft, including two each from the US and Britain, whilst 162 horses from the Republican Guard paraded on the ground.
The ceremony will conclude with a grand finale – the renowned Patrouille de France tracing the French national colours in the sky above a noticeably smaller presidential stand.
