Brazilian presidential inauguration

In front of the Cathedral, the president-elect and vice-president-elect take the presidential Rolls-Royce and proceed in parade down the Ministries Esplanade to the National Congress, while escorted by the Independence Dragoons.

In that case, a Solemn Mass is scheduled to take place in the Cathedral before the time set for the beginning of the State-sponsored inauguration ceremonies.

In some inaugural ceremonies, however, such as Dilma Rousseff's second inauguration in 2015, the National Anthem was not played at this point of the proceedings, being instead played at the beginning of the Congressional ceremony (in that case, the president of Congress invites those present to hear the National Anthem as soon as the joint session of Congress is declared open).

If the National Anthem is played at the beginning of the joint session, then, immediately after the oaths of office and the declarative announcement by the president of Congress, the instrument recording the investiture is read out.

Once the president emerges from the National Congress, he pauses at the top of the front ramp of that palace, and, upon sight of the new head of state, a 21-gun salute is immediately fired by the Cayenne Battery.

While in other South American countries the reception of the sash by the new president forms part of the essential solemnities of the inauguration, and takes place immediately at the moment of the assumption of office, in Brazil the transfer of the sash, while still highly symbolic of the installation of the new president, is not an essential part of the presidential investiture, and therefore it only takes place in the case of planned inaugurations.

Nevertheless, the handover of the sash from the former president to the new office-holder is considered an important symbol of the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next, in accordance with the will of the people and the constitutional order.

Three Brazilian presidents have been re-elected, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff.

In the outdoor Parlatorium the president (new or re elected), already using the presidential sash, delivers a public address facing the Three Powers Square where the people are assembled.

By entering the car at the foot of the Palace's ramp and being transported away, the former president takes his leave of the official ceremonies of his successor's inauguration.

Once all the Cabinet and Cabinet-level officers have been invested, the act of their investiture usually ends with a "family photo" of the new Administration around the new president and vice-president.

After that ceremony of investiture and the taking of the "family photo" of the administration, the President went on to receive the Brazilian authorities and the representatives of civil society.

However, Presidents Lula da Silva and Rousseff have opted for less formal and less lavish parties, and have instead hosted more simple cocktails, to which guests were expected to attend in suit and tie.Rio de Janeiro was the Brazilian capital until the construction of Brasília in 1960.

They started at the seat of the Chamber of Deputies (housed at the Tiradentes Palace from 1926 until the transfer of the Capital to Brasília) where the president took the oath of office before a joint session of Congress and delivered an inaugural address.

Using the ceremonial state car, he then proceeded in parade to the seat of the Presidency (the Catete Palace in the later years of Rio's history as Capital of the Republic).

After receiving the presidential sash indoors, in the presence of dignitaries and guests assembled in one of the Halls of Catete Palace, the president appeared on the balcony and addressed the crowds.

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate assembled there for their joint sessions during the drafting of the Constitution, and also for the election and inauguration of the first president and vice-president.

Meanwhile, after the 1890-1891 Constituent Congress, the Senate was housed in the same building that served as its seat in the imperial era, the Paço do Senado (Senate Palace) - previously known as the Conde dos Arcos Palace when it was the private residence of a Portuguese count who had served as the last viceroy of Colonial Brazil - a building adjoining the Campo de Santana park, now officially known as the Republic Square.

As for the Chamber of Deputies, it was temporarily moved to the National Library of Brazil also in the year 1922, while its seat, the Paço da Cadeia was demolished, and work on the construction of Tiradentes Palace, its replacement situated in the same address, began.

During the period when the Chamber of Deputies was temporarily housed in the National Library, joint sessions of Congress took place in the Senate's Monroe Palace.

As for the part of the inauguration ceremonies taking place at the seat of the Executive Branch, the Presidency was initially housed at Rio's Itamaraty Palace.

In 1946 Guanabara Palace became the seat of the Mayor of the Federal District, and currently houses the State Government of Rio de Janeiro.

Back in the days when Rio was still the Capital of Brazil, all the acts of a planned inauguration, including the joint session of Congress for the swearing-in of a new president, were white tie events.

In the wake of the 1930 Revolution, the Constitution adopted on 16 July 1934, in its transitional provisions, empowered the Constituent Assembly to elect the president for the first presidential term.

However, the transitional constitutional provisions stipulated that the mandate of the then serving president of the Republic would continue until he completed five years in office.

As a result, Itamar Franco served until 31 December 1994, and, since 1995, Inauguration Day has been on 1 January as dictated by the permanent provisions of the Federal Constitution.

Article 78 of the Constitution prescribes that "the President and the Vice-President of the Republic shall assume their offices in a sitting of the National Congress, by taking the pledge to maintain, defend and uphold the Constitution, observe the Laws, promote the general welfare of the Brazilian people, and to sustain the union, the integrity and the independence of Brazil" (O Presidente e o Vice-Presidente da República tomarão posse em sessão do Congresso Nacional, prestando o compromisso de manter, defender e cumprir a Constituição, observar as leis, promover o bem geral do povo brasileiro, sustentar a união, a integridade e a independência do Brasil).

Accordingly, the form of the oath of office, for both the president and the vice-president, runs as follows: "I promise to preserve, defend and uphold the Constitution, observe the Laws, promote the general welfare of the Brazilian people, and to sustain the union, the integrity and the independence of Brazil" (Prometo manter, defender e cumprir a Constituição, observar as Leis, promover o bem geral do povo brasileiro, sustentar a união, a integridade e a independência do Brasil).President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had the most popular presidential inauguration in history.

[5] In addition to the formal ceremony, Rousseff's inauguration also featured concerts by five female Brazilian singers: Elba Ramalho, Fernanda Takai, Mart'nália and Zélia Duncan, and Gaby Amarantos.

The ceremony notably was not attended by representatives of countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, whose leaders saw a rift with a conservative Bolsonaro government and their socialist platform.