page_title: Bastille Day military parade
section_title: Recent developments
hierarchical_section_title: Bastille Day military parade / History / Recent developments
caption_attribution_description: PARIS -- Soldiers from France’s First Infantry Regiment march down Camps del Elysee during the 2012, 14th of July parade in Paris. The 14th of July, known in English by Bastille Day, is the French equivalent of the American 4th of July. It commemorates the attack on the Bastille on July 14, 1789, which preceded the French revolution. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson)
context_page_description: The Bastille Day military parade, also known as the 14 July military parade, translation of the French name of Défilé militaire du 14 juillet, is a French military parade that has been held on the morning of 14 July each year in Paris since 1880, almost without exception. The parade passes down the Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde where the President of the French Republic, his government and foreign ambassadors to France stand.
  It is a popular event in France, broadcast live on television; it is also one of the oldest regular military parades in the world. In some years, invited detachments of foreign troops take part in the parade and foreign statesmen attend as guests. Smaller military parades are held in French garrison cities.
context_section_description: In 1971 female personnel were included for the first time amongst the troops parading.
  Under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing the parade route was changed each year with troops marching down from the Place de la Bastille to the Place de la République to commemorate popular outbreaks of the French Revolution:
  1974: Bastille-République (No mobile column and flypast that year, only the mounted and ground columns)
  1975: Cours de Vincennes
  1976: Champs-Élysées
  1977: École militaire
  1978: Champs-Élysées
  1979: République-Bastille
  1980: Champs-Elysées.
  Under Presidents François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac the parade route returned to the Champs-Elysées where it continues to be held. 1989's parade was one of the biggest, which would mark the bicentennial year since the outbreaks of the Revolution in Paris. In 1994, troops of the Eurocorps, including German soldiers, paraded on the invitation of François Mitterrand. The event was seen as symbolic of both European integration, and German-French reconciliation. In 1999, for the "Year of Morocco" in France, the Moroccan Royal Guard opened the parade, in the presence of King Hassan II of Morocco.
  In 2002, the cadets of the United States Military Academy and surviving FDNY firefighters paraded. In 2004, British troops from the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, paraded to celebrate the centenary of the Entente cordiale. On an earlier occasion detachments of the British Brigade of Guards and Royal Marines had participated in the Bastille Day Parade of 14 July 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II.
  In 2005, "year of Brazil" in France, two Brazilian units opened the parade and the smoke squadron (a Brazilian air demonstration squadron) ended the fly-past in the presence of President Lula. In 2007, president Nicolas Sarkozy invited all the 26 other EU member states to join the parade with a detachment of their armed services.
  2008's Bastille Day Parade saw a United Nations Security Council/Secretariat-DPKO battalion leading the parade march past from UNDOF, UNFICYP and UNIFIL. In 2009, the parade opened with a contingent of Indian troops drawn from the three services (Indian Army, Indian Navy & Indian Air Force. President Nicolas Sarkozy invited Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to attend the event as the guest of honour. Soldiers including Jawans of Maratha Light Infantry Regiment Centre (MLIRC) marched down the Champs Elysees to the sound of an Indian military band playing Indian martial tunes including Saare Jahan Se Achcha, Haste Lushai and Kadam Kadam Badaye Ja.
  To celebrate 50 years of independence of the French African colonies, the 2010 parade saw troops from several former French African colonies' armed forces lead the parade.
  The 2011 parade celebrated the French overseas possessions and the 200 years of the French firefighting service. That same year, former judge and Green politician Eva Joly called for an end to 14 July parade practice, saying that it should be replaced with a "citizens' parade".
  The 2012 parade was led by the Armed Forces units in Afghanistan (the Foreign Legion included), several NATO countries' armed forces, and France's UN peacekeeping units. A parachutist who took part in the parade's finale parachute display was injured and taken care of at once by the medical personnel, in front of everyone in attendance.
  2013's parade saw troops from Mali (including members of the French-led multinational intervention force) and Croatia, the newest EU member, march past. The Hector Berlioz arrangement of the national anthem was played on this parade by the band of the Troupes de Marine (forming the medal of the National Order of Merit on the grounds of the Place de la Concorde together with civilian participants forming the ribbon) and the French Army Chorus with soloist Florian Laconi, honouring the golden jubilee of the foundation of the National Order of Merit.
  To mark the centennial of the outbreak of the First World War, the 2014 parade started with a detachment of soldiers wearing the 1916 blue-grey French uniform which was followed by colour guards from 
caption: Soldiers of the 1st French Infantry Regiment in Paris in 2012
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