Smaller military parades are held in French garrison cities, most notably Marseille, Toulon, Brest, Rochefort, Belfort, and Nice.

He then rides the Chief of Defense Staff's vehicle to inspect the troops on the Champs-Elysées escorted by troopers and officers of the Republican Guard's cavalry regiment and its mounted band, waving on the crowds lining up on the boulevard.

After he disembarks from the vehicle he finishes the inspection through one done for the Republican Guard Infantry units, then walks to the stage on the Place de la Concorde to meet the dignitaries present.

In recent years the parade has started with military bands from the French Armed Forces taking the stage with band exhibitions and drill shows, sometimes including displays from foreign service troops and mounted units; plus military and civil choirs singing classic French patriotic songs.

For instance, in 2004, to mark the centenary of the Entente Cordiale, British troops (the band of the Royal Marines, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, Grenadier Guards and King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery) led the Bastille Day parade in Paris, with the Red Arrows flying overhead.

The parade follows with foot soldiers: army infantry; troupes de Marine; Air; Gendarmerie Nationale, including the Republican Guard; and occasionally non-military police and fire units.

Motorised and armoured troops come next, and the parade traditionally ends with the popular Paris Fire Brigade, which is a military unit in the French Army.

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:[5] Under Presidents François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac the parade route returned to the Champs-Elysées where it continues to be held.

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.

[10] 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[11] 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 Qadam Qadam Badhaye Ja.

The motorised parade ended with a limber team carrying a 75mm field gun, immediately behind the mounted French Republican Guard Cavalry Regiment.

This parade saw the debut appearance of two special forces units of the French National Police and the GIGN from the National Gendarmerie, which had seen action during January's Charlie Hebdo shooting incident as well as cadets of the Heroic Military Academy, Heroic Naval School and the Air Force College from Mexico.

In tribute to all the French fallen and veterans of the Second World War the Patrouille de France flew over the dais, in Cross of Lorraine formation.

Participating units represented French military and police actions within France and overseas, partly as a result of the November 2015 Paris attacks.

Increased anti-terror efforts were marked by the marchpast of armed forces basic training institutions and personnel involved in counter-terrorist operations.

A medley of Daft Punk songs was played that year[19][20] The visit served as an inspiration for a similar event in the United States, first the 2018 Washington Veterans Day Parade (which was cancelled due to cost) and later the "Salute to America" on 4 July 2019.

[21] The 2018 parade marking the centennial year of the conclusion of the First World War was expected to be held with more than 7,500 troops in attendance in the ground column alone, with 480 vehicles in the mobile column, more than last year's parade, in what is one of the major international celebrations of this event, with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong and the Japanese foreign minister, Taro Kono, as the international guests.

[27] During the exhibition prior to the flypast that signals the start of the parade, a turbine powered hoverboard invention called the Flyboard Air was flown throughout the central area with its inventor Franky Zapata on it.

The La Musique de l'Air performed John Williams' Summon the Heroes and Olympic Fanfare and Theme, both as a reminder of the nation's preparedness in hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics to be held in the capital, while marking the 190th year of the July Revolution of 1830, the golden jubilee anniversary since the passing of President Charles de Gaulle, the 80th anniversary of the formation of the Free French Forces and the establishment of the Order of Liberation, the 75th diamond jubilee since the victory over the Axis Powers and the end of the Second World War and the 60th anniversary of the country's first ever nuclear test.

The parade of 2024, for the first time held at Jean de Lattre de Tassigny Square, marked the 235th year of the Revolution of 1789, the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the Liberation of France, and NATO's Diamond Jubilee anniversary, while also marking the nation's final countdown of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics - as represented by military athletes being present for the finale and the Olympic flame's welcome into the capital integrated as well into it.

The ground column was led by those existing armed forces units carrying battle honours from the events of 1944 and before that by a multinational military colour guard honoring all who took part decades prior.

As of the early 2010s, the parade involves around 9,500 soldiers (7,800 on foot, the rest are crew members or cavalrymen), 380 vehicles, 240 horses and more than 80 planes and helicopters.