The date was set for April 23, and from 1916, due to the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church decided to celebrate the holiday on May 6.

The date of 9 September became the national day of Bulgaria under communist rule (commemorating the 1944 Bulgarian coup d'état) and was adopted as a holiday of the army.

[6][7][3][4] After 1990, the seventh Grand National Assembly set August 23 as the holiday of the army, commemorating the 1877 Battle of Shipka Pass during the Russo-Turkish War.

[8] This date was changed in January 1993, when by a decree of the Council of Ministers, 6 May returned to the holiday calendar as the armed forces day.

[15][16][17][18][19] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria, the annual parade was cancelled with the Defence Minister ordering small scale celebrations at military academies instead.

[20] When questioned on this while peaking at a special sitting of the National Assembly of Bulgaria on April 28, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov confirmed this, saying: "There will be no parade.

[21] In 2021, a parade, held in compliance with anti-pandemic measures, took place at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier near Saint Sophia Church in Sofia.

[23] The celebrations officially begin at 9am with the laying of flowers at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier by President of Bulgaria and members of government.

Here, following a flag raising ceremony, the patriarch or other representative of the high clergy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrates a memorial service for the fallen servicemen, a prayer for the living and a blessing of holy water to the colours of the Armed Forces, past and present.

Until 2012, the parade in Sofia passed in the direction of the Presidency to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral near the Central Military Club, similar to the communist-era tradition.