Independence Day (), also known as the Fifth of July ("Cinco de Julio") is the national independence holiday of Venezuela, marked every year on July 5 which celebrates the anniversary since the enactment of the 1811 Venezuelan Declaration of Independence, making the country the first Spanish colony in South America to declare independence. In recent years, it is also marked as National Armed Forces Day ("Día de la Fuerza Armada Nacional") to honor the faithful service of all the serving men and women and veterans of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela.